Brussels, 01/02/2008 (Agence Europe) - On 28 January, the member states of the EU reached a political agreement on the new “accession partnership” for Turkey. This text, which is updated every two or three years, sets the short-and medium-term priorities to be targeted by Turkey if it wishes to fulfil the accession criteria for the EU and if, until such time, it hopes to continue to benefit from pre-accession financial aid. Pre-accession aid is subject to the observation of priorities laid down for all candidate countries in their accession partnership. If they do not abide by them, aid may be suspended by the Council. Turkey's first accession partnership was drawn up in 2001. It has been revised twice since then; once in 2003 and once in 2006. The revised version adopted early this year will evolve further over the years, depending on progress made by Turkey and any new priorities which may be identified by the EU in the future. In order to implement these priorities, Ankara must now update its own national programme for adopting the Community acquis. Monitoring is assured as part of the EU-Turkey association agreement. The partnership is divided into two parts: the short-term priorities (to be achieved within the next one or two years) and the medium-term priorities, which must be achieved within three or four years.
Short-term priorities. These can be divided into several categories. 1) International obligations. As regards Cyprus, Turkey must actively support the efforts of the UN with a view to a comprehensive and viable solution to the Cypriot problem, in full respect of the principles on which the EU is founded; Ankara must also contribute to the establishment of a climate which is conducive to this comprehensive settlement; Turkey must also fully implement the protocol on extending the customs union to all new member states including Cyprus; to this end, Ankara must remove all existing restrictions applied to vessels flying the Cypriot flag and to all vessels serving Cyprus; - the country must also take concrete measures to normalise its relations with all member states of the EU, including Cyprus, “as soon as possible”. 2) Political questions. The following, amongst others, have been mentioned: - the drafting of a global strategy to fight corruption, including corruption at high levels; - the reform of the public administration; - reinforcing civil controls on the security forces: Ankara must ensure that the army does not intervene in political issues; the government must also set in place “total” Parliamentary controls over the military policy and defence; - reform of the legal system; Turkey must take measures to ensure the independence of the judiciary; it must also improve the effectiveness of the judicial system and increase levels of training for judges, in order to guarantee that their interpretation of the legislation is in line with the European Convention on Human Rights and the jurisprudence of the ECHR. 3) Human rights and protection for minorities. Amongst other things, Turkey must: - ensure that measures taken as part of the policy of “zero tolerance” towards torture are applied correctly; - ratify the optional protocol on the UN Convention against torture; - come into line with the European Convention on human rights and execute all rulings of the European Court of Human Rights; - set in place a national independent human rights institution; - ensure adequate legal systems; - review legislation in the field of the freedom of expression (press freedom in particular), the freedom of association and the freedom of religion, in order to ensure that this legislation is fully compatible with the European Human Rights Convention; - fully implement the legislation on the protection of women and children, and guarantee full respect for union rights; - guarantee cultural diversity and legal protection for minorities; - improve access to television programmes in languages other than Turkish; - draw up a global approach in order to improve the socio-economic and cultural situation in the southeast of the country. 4) Economic questions. Ankara must, amongst other things, continue with the privatisation of public companies, the liberalisation of the market and price reforms. 5) Implementation of the Community acquis. The EU has specifically requested that Turkish legislation be brought into increasing conformity with the Community acquis in almost all of the 35 negotiation chapters. It is particularly worth mentioning the obligation for Ankara: - to remove all restrictions affecting direct foreign investment from the EU (free movement of capital); - to adopt a new commerce code (company law); - to adopt a law on state aid which is in line with the EU legislation (competition policy); - to conclude, as a matter of urgency, a readmission agreement with the EU (JHA); - to come into line with the EU's position in trade negotiations (Doha Round) at the WTO.
Medium-term priorities. No request has been made regarding political criteria for accession. As for the economic criteria, Turkey must complete its privatisation programme, ensure the viability of public finances, improve the general level of education and improve the infrastructure of the country. (H.B.)