Brussels, 07/09/2006 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday in Brussels Commissioner Olli Rehn and Turkish negotiator Ali Babacan examined EU accession preparations before the publication of a Commission regular report on 24 October. Rehn again encouraged Ankara to pursue and accelerate reforms and stick to its commitments made in the Customs Union with the EU. Mr Babacan reiterated Ankara's refusal to link implementation of the Customs Union to Cyprus, as long as the EU failed to end the trade isolation of the northern part of Cyprus. According to the press, the Commission and Finnish presidency will already be studying several “Plan Bs” to prevent any rupture in accession negotiations if Turkey continues to refuse to apply the Ankara Protocol. Options include the idea of taking the dispute to the European Court of Justice, which would gain time, or the possibility of suspending negotiations in several chapters directly linked to the internal market, due to the clear link between the Turkish refusal to respect customs union rules - a possibility recently mentioned by Erkki Tuomioja (EUROPE 9256). Another idea would be to end the trade isolation of the Turkish part of Cyprus by allowing products from the north of the island access the EU's internal market and vice versa but under the auspices of the UN (the draft regulation of the Commission on the opening of direct trade between the EU and the north of Cyprus is still blocked at the Council by Nicosia). In exchange, Ankara is expected to open its ports airports to Cypriots. On Thursday, Commission sources described all these suggestions as “pure speculation” and stressed that the Commission is refusing to play Turkey's game of linking the application of the additional protocol on customs union to the problem of northern Cyprus' isolation. These sources said that “these are two different dossiers and are not linked. Turkey has signed the protocol and we are expecting it to respect its legal commitments in the customs union”. The 24 October report will also look at the issue of customs union and make recommendations on the continuation of Turkey's accession process, explained the Commission.