Brussels, 28/08/2007 (Agence Europe) - Reacting to the French President's more tractable position towards Turkey, a spokesman for the European Commission said on Tuesday that Turkey “welcomes Mr Sarkozy's comments that show a loyalty to the commitments taken on accession negotiations”. “It is constructive”, added Amadeu Altafaj Tardio, specifying that the idea of creating a committee of “wise men” to reflect on the future of the European project in 2020-2030 “is an idea that we find interesting”. The spokesman nonetheless explained that this idea was only being considered as a “new contribution” to the ongoing debate within the European institutions on this subject.
On Monday, on the occasion of his first major foreign policy speech since his election, Nicolas Sarkozy had said that France would not oppose the opening of further negotiation chapters with Ankara if reflection were launched on the future of the European project.