Euractive: EU-Turkey talks to kick off on 3 October

Euractive

EU-Turkey talks to kick off on 3 October

The scheduled 3 October start of Turkey's accession talks will put Ankara's EU bid in a new perspective. Alongside the ongoing broad debates, structured negotiations will also steal the headlines.

Background:

Turkey has been working toward full European Union membership status for 40 years. In 1999, the EU formally accepted Turkey’s candidacy for membership, and determined that the so-called Copenhagen criteria must be met by the country to achieve that status.

Under the Copenhagen criteria, a candidate country must have stable institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for / protection of minorities. The candidate state must have a functioning market economy and the capacity to manage competition and the free market of the Union. Furthermore, the candidate must adhere to the aims of political, economic and monetary union and must effectively implement the EU’s rules and regulations (the 'acquis communautaire').

In its 2004 report on Turkey, the EU specifically called on Ankara to reduce its budget deficit and inflation; continue with the reform of its administration; strengthen the rule of law; accelerate the privatisation process; and generally make the country’s economy more attractive to external investors. The Commission’s next progress report on the country is due out on 9 November.

At the December 2004 EU summit, the member states specified two key conditions which Ankara was supposed to meet in order for accession talks to start as scheduled on 3 October 2005. The Turkish government had to enact six pieces of legislation which the EU considered essential for the related political and legal accession criteria, and Ankara also had to sign a protocol to its customs union with the EU-15, extending it to the EU-10 states. Both conditions have been met.

One major stumbling bloc has been the recognition of Cyprus. This, however, has never been part of the conditions for starting accession talks.
Issues:

Although the framework for the upcoming accession talks is rooted in the so-called Copenhagen criteria and the main focus is the EU’s acquis, the negotiations themselves - as well as the accompanying debates - will predictably cover or touch upon a broad range of issues external, in a formal sense, to the above focus. This will make the process yet more complex, but at the same time it will also ensure that Turkey’s eventual European integration is not ‘limited’ to the adoption, implementation and enforcement of the acquis. The accession talks are expected to last at least a decade.