Brussels, 27/11/2006 (Agence Europe) - On Monday, the Finnish Presidency decided against continuing its efforts to resolve the issue of Cyprus within the framework of Turkey's accession negotiations, instead referring the parties to an overall resolution of the situation. "Unfortunately, we must conclude that under the current circumstances, an agreement will not be found under the Finnish Presidency", said foreign affairs Minister Erkki Tuomioja in a press release, having met with his Cypriot and Turkish opposite numbers, Mr Lillikas and Mr Gül, on Monday. Talks on the opening up of direct trade with the northern part of Cyprus and on access for Cypriot boats and aeroplanes to Turkish ports and airports will, therefore, not be concluded before the European Council of December, which will draw conclusions on the future of accession negotiations with Ankara. In the view of Commissioner Rehn, who, at this stage, has still to make its recommendations on 6 December, negotiations should nonetheless be neither suspended nor frozen, but simply slowed down. Over at the Parliament, opinions differ.
According to Mr Tuomioja, all parties have cooperated constructively with the Presidency, which "will start immediately to prepare the management of the follow-up of negotiations on Turkey's accession to the EU with the Commission". As anticipated, the decision will be taken by the foreign affairs ministers at the General Affairs and External Relations Council of 11 December, on the basis of Commission recommendations. However, the latter has no intentions of pre-empting its official decision, so that 6 December remains, at this stage, the "logical moment" to take position, Olli Rehn's spokesperson confirmed. "The objective was not to resolve the problem of Cyprus; however, a positive conclusion of our discussions would also have been an encouraging step forward vis-à-vis the efforts of the UN on this question, which the Finnish Presidency fully supports", continues the press release of the Finnish Presidency, which now calls on the leaders of both Cypriot communities swiftly to implement the proposals of the deputy Secretary-General, Ibrahim Gambari, in order to resume negotiations on an overall settlement.
At a conference he was holding the same day at the University of Helsinki, Olli Rehn said that "the efforts of the Finnish Presidency have been far from in vain", finding reasons to be positive in an old Finnish proverb: "the salmon is such a noble fish that it is worth being fished, even if you don't end up catching it". He went on to note that after two and a half years of his mandate as Commissioner in charge of Enlargement, "the essential conclusion which we must draw is that a global agreement is the best way of resolving the problem". He continued: "in order to encourage a serious movement, the December European Council should call for the resumption of talks in favour of a global agreement under the aegis of the United Nations". Despite the situation, Mr Rehn stresses the importance of not calling the European vocation of Turkey into question. "By respecting our word and conforming with the prospect of accession, we could create a vicious circle of credible commitments, with strict conditions and reinforce reforms", said that Commissioner, insisting: "we must, at every stage, remain firm but fair-rather than just firm". On the sidelines of the conference, he explained that "a solution must be found. The Commission believes that negotiations cannot be completely stopped. The train will slow down, but it will not stop".
In the view of Martin Schulz, President of the Socialist group at the European Parliament, this failure constitutes "serious damage" for the negotiations over Turkey's accession to the EU. "The breakdown of discussions has brought us to a political point", Mr Schulz went on to state in a press release, adding that "Turkey must move". Joining other voices calling for Ankara's full implementation of the agreement on customs union, Greens-EFA MEP, Cem Özdemir, pointed out that the EU, for its part, agreed in 2004 to put an end to the economic isolation of Northern Cyprus. "With that as a backdrop, we cannot help thinking that for the EU, credibility is a one-way street", said Mr Özdemir, who also calls for pressure to be brought to bear on Cyprus. He warned against the temptation for many to use the current crisis as a welcome excuse to stop negotiations. Indeed, several other MEPs did not hesitate to do exactly that, for example the German representatives of the CDU/CSU to the European Parliament, Werner Langen and Markus Ferber, who take the view that "accession negotiations with Turkey must now be suspended". On the same wavelength, German Liberal Alexander Graf Lambsdorff pleaded for all chapters of negotiations to be put on ice. (ab)