Brussels, 12/12/2006 (Agence Europe) - Foreign affairs ministers reached an agreement on Monday evening to put the brakes on accession negotiations with Turkey (EUROPE 9325). Council conclusions were based on the Commission's recommendation to not open eight chapters and to not close any other of the negotiation fields, as long as Ankara does not comply with its obligations on customs union. To get to this point, ministers took care to produce a balanced message and combined the future follow-up of progress by Ankara with a reiteration of their commitment to tackle the issue of trade with the northern part of the island and their support for an overall solution to the Cypriot question by the United Nations.
This all constitutes a compromise that the EU25 finds satisfactory, explained Erkki Tuomioja at the end of the meeting, indicating to the press that “Nobody questioned the possibility of Turkey joining the EU once it meets all the criteria”. This meant that “there will be no Turkey summit on Thursday or Friday”, announced the Finnish foreign affairs minister, happily, in seeing this as an “encouraging” message to Turkey. During the European Council 14-15 December, Heads of State are expected to simply ratify the General Affairs Council's conclusions without going into further detail on the question, unless there is an unlikely development. In reply to journalists who asked Mr Tuomioja about this point, the minister explained that if by the time of the summit Ankara clarified its offer and opened more ports and airports, this would “be certainly seen as a positive step but unfortunately full implementation by Ankara was not yet on the table so the decisions will stand”. Olli Rehn the European Commissioner for enlargement said that Monday's decision “sends a signal to Turkey that failure to meet legal obligations cannot remain without consequences but it enables progress in the accession negotiations”. The president of the Commission, José Manuel Barroso, was also “very satisfied”. According to a spokesperson on Tuesday, Barroso had indicated that it was a “sound and clear basis for future management of the negotiations”.
As an answer to the question left pending in the Finnish presidency's draft conclusion, ministers finally opted for a freezing of the eight chapters proposed by the Commission (nothing more and nothing less): the free movement of goods (chapter 1), the right of establishment and free provision of services (chapter 3), financial services (chapter 9à, agriculture and sustainable development (chapter 11), fisheries (chapter 13), public transport (chapter 14), customs union (chapter 29) and external relations (chapter 30). Although no rendezvous clause or ultimatum was set, conclusions insisted, nonetheless, on the follow-up to the progress by Turkey with application of the protocol to the Ankara Agreement. This, above all, involves, a reminder as to the usual procedure, already mentioned in the presidency's draft, and to which a reference on the dates of the next Commission progress reports had simply been added to ensure that the question does not vanish from the Council's agenda. The conclusions indicate that, “The Council invites the Commission to report on this in its forthcoming annual reports, in particular in 2007, 2008 and 2009 as appropriate”. They also underline that “The Council emphasizes that the screening process will not continue and chapters for which technical preparations have been completed will be opened in accordance with established procedures”, therefore unanimity.
In parallel, the presidency gave its “unfailing support” in a specific declaration to the efforts to attain a global solution to the Cypriot problem: “The presidency is delighted with the positive responses from Heads of the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities to the letter from the Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations, Gambari, on application of their agreement of 8 July” and calls for a “rapid resumption of this preparatory work so that the good offices of the Secretary General of the United Nations can begin again without delay”.
In recognition that the words employed by Mr Tuomioja - “we have some unfinished business” -in view of extricating the north of the island from its economic isolation, Europeans announced the adoption of a declaration in which they are committed to renewing efforts immediately on this point. Mr Tuomioja also stressed that this text “is in line with the commitment we undertook in April 2004” but which has “nothing to do with any other obligation but an independent item for the EU to take care of”. In this declaration, which will be adopted during the next General Affairs Council in January 2007, the EU25 reaffirm their intention to end the economic isolation of the north of the island, as they intended in 2004 after the Turkish Cypriot community's support for the Annan plan.
On Tuesday, Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was addressing deputies from his AKP party, asserted, “despite our good will, the decision of the Council of the EU is unfortunately unjust to Turkey. He affirmed that “relations between Turkey and the EU are undergoing a serious test” but pointed out that he was determined to continue the necessary efforts of reform for accession. (ab)