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Key EU conditions for Turkey talks
AFP: 12/17/2004
BRUSSELS, Dec 17 (AFP) - Herewith key conditions and warnings that European Union leaders set at a summit Friday in return for giving a green light to Turkey to start EU entry talks on October 3 next year:


-- TURKEY MUST RECOGNIZE CYPRUS: The EU wants Turkey to offer de-facto recognition of Cyprus, whose Greek-Cypriot government was among 10 states that joined the EU in May, leaving the Turkish Cypriots in the cold.

In a written declaration offered to the EU, the Turkish government said it was "ready" to sign a protocol expanding Turkey's 1963 association accord with Brussels to the 10 new member states, including Cyprus, before next October.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that that commitment did not amount to legal recognition of the Republic of Cyprus, a position backed by Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, the EU's current chairman.

"But it is a step that can lead to progress in this field," Balkenende said.


-- TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS: The EU, seeking to allay fears of waves of cheap Turkish workers flooding Europe's labour market, retained the right to impose measures including "permanent safeguard" clauses in any accession accord.

But the final version of the EU's summit conclusions added a definition of such safeguards as "clauses which are permanently available as a basis for safeguard measures", putting the accent on them being available permanently rather than applicable permanently.

"Those (provisions) were different before, but I can say that they were put into the desired shape as a result of the efforts we made," Erdogan said.


-- FINANCIAL RESTRICTIONS: As with the free movement of people, Turkey is not guaranteed to benefit from full EU largesse in terms of subsidies for its infrastructure development or agriculture.

This addresses concerns felt by many in the EU that the club would not be able to afford the full costs of transforming a country that is still largely agrarian with levels of income far below most current member states.


-- TALKS WILL BE LONG HAUL: Turkey cannot hope to join for at least a decade.

The EU conclusions said that entry talks for countries "whose accession could have substantial financial consequences can only be concluded after the establishment of the (EU's long-term budget plans) for the period from 2014".


-- MEMBERSHIP NOT GUARANTEED: The EU leaders said "the shared objective of the negotiations is accession" by Turkey. But the talks are "an open-ended process, the outcome of which cannot be guaranteed beforehand".

On the other hand, should the negotiations fail, the EU must ensure that Turkey "is fully anchored in the European structures through the strongest possible bond".

However, calls led by Austria for the inclusion of a phrase offering Turkey a "privileged partnership", rather than full membership, were rebuffed by the rest of the EU.


-- TALKS COULD BE SUSPENDED: The EU said the negotiations could be broken off in "case of a serious and persistent breach" of fundamental EU values such as "liberty, democracy, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms and the rule of law".

For the talks to be suspended, there must be a recommendation from the EU's executive commission or from one-third of member states. The whole EU would then decide the matter, with a qualified majority required to break them off.


-- RESOLVING TERRITORIAL DISPUTES: In a paragraph largely with Greece in mind, the EU underlined "the need for (an) unequivocal commitment to good-neighbourly relations" from Turkey.

"In this connection it reaffirmed its view that unresolved disputes having repercussions on the accession process should if necessary be brought to the International Court of Justice for settlement," the summit text said.

But again with a nod to Greece, the text also "welcomed the improvement in Turkey's relations with its neighbours and its readiness to continue to work... towards resolution of outstanding border disputes" in a peaceful manner.