Brussels, 17/04/2007 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission refuses to follow up the request made by the Turkish prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, this week, who called on the EU to put forward a roadmap for membership talks as well as a “clear target date” for Turkey's accession to the European Union. “The EU has a clear line which is not to define accession dates in advance, since progress in the accession negotiations depends on the progress in the reforms on the ground” in the candidate country, the spokeswoman for Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said on Tuesday.
On the other hand, Mr Rehn welcomed the multi-annual reform programme (2007-2013) that the Turkish government presented in Ankara on Tuesday. The programme, which is expected to bring Turkey into line with the EU body of law (acquis communautaire), contains a long list of legislative and administrative measures together with a timetable for the period up to 2013. Recently, in Brussels, the Turkish negotiator for membership talks, Ali Babacan, had announced this programme and commented on its importance (EUROPE 9397). (hb)