Brussels, 03/04/2009 (Agence Europe) - The EU-Turkey joint Parliamentary committee, meeting in Brussels on Thursday 2 April, called on member states to agree to open accession talks with Turkey in all the areas which the European Commission has said are technically ready to go to negotiation. “It is hoped that the opening of further chapters in the accession negotiations will boost Turkey's determination to take the necessary steps to bring Turkey closer to European standards and the acquis communautaire,” said the joint chairmen, MEP Joost Lagendijk (Greens, Netherlands) and Turkish MP Yaºar Yakis - in a press release issued after the meeting. These chapters include the section on energy, which is currently being blocked by Cyprus for political reasons. However, the call does not relate to the eight chapters that have been deadlocked since December 2006 because of the Turkish refusal to extend the Customs Union to Cyprus, or the five negotiation chapters that France is refusing to open because they refer exclusively to Turkey's accession to the EU, Lagendijk told EUROPE. The two joint chairmen of the committee also called on the Council and the Commission to involve Turkey in all negotiations on free trade agreements that the EU is conducting with third countries. Because of its Customs Union with the EU, Turkey is directly affected by all free trade agreements the EU concludes with third countries, but it has no say in negotiations. In future, the EU should ensure that Ankara is consulted on the progress of trade negotiations as it happens, Lagendijk and Yakis said. On the sidelines of the meeting, German MEP Renate Sommer (EPP-ED) lambasted Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn. Despite the fact that the reforms in Turkey “are making no progress and fundamental freedoms are being increasingly restricted,” Rehn, she said, was continuing to say the accession negotiations should be speeded up. She felt that Rehn wanted to “legitimise” his work as Enlargement Commissioner, “knowing full well that the European Union will not be able to accommodate this country which refuses to adapt”. Sommer believes that the EU's absorption capacity will be reached once Croatia joins. “We should get rid of the post of Enlargement Commissioner,” she said. (H.B./transl.rt)