EU: The European Commission has given Turkey the go-ahead to start the process of joining the European Union but warned that negotiations will be halted if Ankara reverses progress on human rights and democracy writes Denis Staunton in Brussels.
In a report published yesterday, the Commission said Turkish membership could be good for both Turkey and the EU but suggested that permanent safeguards might be needed to prevent mass Turkish emigration to more prosperous member-states.
The Commission President, Mr Romano Prodi, told the European Parliament that Turkey fulfilled the conditions set by EU leaders two years ago for the start of membership negotiations.
"The Commission's response today is Yes. That is to say, its response as regards compliance with the criteria is positive and it recommends opening negotiations. However, it is a qualified yes that is accompanied by a large number of recommendations on following up and monitoring the situation in Turkey, and some specific recommendations on the conduct of negotiations," he said.
EU leaders will make the final decision on whether to start negotiations with Turkey at a summit in Brussels in December. The Commission did not recommend a date for the start of talks but the Dutch Foreign Minister, Mr Bernard Bot, whose country holds the EU Presidency, said yesterday that he expects talks to begin in late 2005.
Turkey's Prime Minister, Mr Recep Tayyip Erdogan, welcomed the Commission's report and said during a visit to Strasbourg that he wanted an early start to negotiations.
In Ankara, the Turkish capital, the foreign minister Mr Abdullah Gul, said: "This is a historic decision, both for Turkey and for Europe. (The Commission) has made the recommendation it had to make."
Initial reaction from Turkish business was positive. "The important thing is that Turkey is walking on the EU path and will keep on walking. We must not pay too much attention to the extra factors," said Mr Bahadir Kaleagasi, Brussels representative of Turkey's TUSIAD business association.
The main Istanbul share index ended 3.12 per cent higher at 22,287.12 points, though the Turkish currency, the lira, fell slightly against the US dollar. EU-related optimism has lifted Turkey's stock market some 41 per cent from its mid-May lows.
The Commission report concluded that Turkey had "substantially progressed" in its political reform process but said that some important changes in the penal code and the code of criminal procedure have yet to be implemented. The report said, although torture is no longer systematic in Turkey, numerous cases of ill treatment, including torture, continue to occur.
Mr Prodi said the EU must make sure that the reform process is irreversible and that it will be pursued to completion.
"We must take the time needed to make sure that all the important reforms adopted become day-to-day reality for Turkish citizens, both men and women. And we must also tell our Turkish partners clearly and calmly that any breakdown in this progress towards democracy, human rights, fundamental rights and the rule of law as practised in the EU will automatically bring negotiations to a halt," he said.
The Commission did not vote before adopting yesterday's report but only one Commissioner, Mr Frits Bolkestein, is known to have opposed it. Mr Bolkestein, who is responsible for the Internal Market and Taxation, warned last month that allowing Turkey to join the EU would mean that the defeat of the Ottoman Turks at Vienna in 1683 would have been in vain.
Turkey's membership negotiations are expected to last at least 10 years and its entry into the EU could be blocked by any one of the existing member-states. The French president, Mr Jacques Chirac, has suggested that his country could hold a referendum on Turkish membership when the time comes.
In its report, the Commission stressed that, even if Turkey starts membership talks next year, there was no guarantee it would ever actually join the EU. "The Commission is convinced that the negotiation process will be essential in guiding further reforms in Turkey. It is by its very nature an open-ended process whose outcome cannot be guaranteed beforehand . . . Turkey's accession would need to be thoroughly prepared in order to allow for a smooth integration which does not endanger, but enhances, the achievements of fifty years of European integration," it said.