Brussels, 29/03/2007 (Agence Europe) - The Turkish government will present a vast programme of legislative reforms in April, which it intends to implement over the period 2007-2013, in order to bring Turkish legislation into line with the Community acquis on all chapters (35) of the accession negotiations with the European Union. This was announced to the press on Thursday by the Turkish negotiator, Ali Babacan, after a negotiation session in Brussels. Despite the “great disappointment, dissolution and frustration” created in Turkey by the decision of the European Union of December 2006 to suspend accession negotiations on eight chapters (due to Turkey's refusal to apply the Ankara protocol on extending customs union to Cyprus), the Turkish government is “determined resolutely to continue critical and technical reforms in order to prepare the country for accession”, Mr Babacan stressed.
The problems of a political nature (the Cyprus issue, the constitutional problem in the EU, “enlargement fatigue” in several member state, etc) cannot prevent Turkey from moving forward and making progress with its technical reforms, the negotiator-in-chief insisted. “We have no time to lose”, particularly as Turkey needs these reforms in place as soon as possible, “with or without accession to the European Union”, he said. In this way, “80 to 90%” of the reforms in the 2007-2013 programme will in any case be vital to make Turkey into a competitive country. When asked about accession prospects, Mr Babacan acknowledged that the “enlargement climate” within the EU is not particularly favourable at the moment, but this is a “short term” phenomenon, which is mainly due to the problem of the Constitution, and once this problem is resolved, “the Union will recover its strength and its confidence”. Furthermore, he stressed, “we must constantly remember that it will not be the Turkey of today, but the Turkey of tomorrow, which will accede to the European Union, and that the Union itself will be different also”.
As anticipated, the Thursday session in Brussels saw accession negotiations open on a second chapter: industrial policy and enterprise. This was an “important step”, which, at this “delicate period”, sends out the “right message, which is that things are moving”, to the Turkish citizens, said Mr Babacan. Ankara has already presented its negotiation position on two additional chapters (economic and monetary union, statistics) and will present another (financial controls) next week. The German presidency has confirmed its intention of opening up these three chapters at a forthcoming negotiations session in June, Mr Babacan told the press. He also stated that Turkey would not open up its ports and airports to Cyprus until the EU has put an end to the commercial isolation of the northern part of Cyprus. (hb)