Brussels, 07/02/2006 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has given the green light to the opening of concrete accession negotiations with Turkey and Croatia on the first of the 35 technical chapters of Community legislation (aquis communautaire): science and research. This recommendation is found in the first two screening reports the Commission has just sent to the Council “enlargement” working group. In these reports, one on Turkey, the other on Croatia, the Commission presents the results of the screening carried out by its services over recent weeks with the Turkish and Croatian authorities for identifying possible problems that could arise in the two countries with the agreement to and implementation of Community legislation in the domain of research. The Commission report is identical for both countries, which are “sufficiently prepared” to begin, without conditions, negotiations on this chapter. The reports explain that, “therefore, the Commission recommends the opening of accession negotiations on Chapter 25, science and research”. A second positive recommendation from the Commission for the two countries is imminent. This involves the opening of negotiations on the education/culture chapter and should be sent to the Council in the next few days.
It is now up to the Austrian presidency to decide when the Council should examine the positive recommendations in view of setting a date for opening negotiations (every Council decision in the negotiations process has to be made by unanimity). Experts close to the dossier consider that the Council will certainly wait for a green light from the Commission on the other chapters currently being screened before inviting the two countries to the first formal rounds of negotiations. EUROPE would like to point out that during accession negotiations with the ten countries of central and eastern Europe and the Mediterranean, the Council waited for the positive recommendations from the Commission on the whole of the seven chapters before deciding in October 1998 on the convocation of an initial formal Accession Conference with the first group of candidate countries. The current screening with Turkey and Croatia focuses on the following chapters: free movement of services, capital and goods; competition, agriculture, justice/freedom/security, economic and monetary policies. The screening of all the 35 chapters is expected to continue until next autumn.