Sources: EU to fail to open any new membership talks with Turkey

Fri, 10 Dec 2010

Brussels - The European Union will fail this month to open talks with Turkey on any new membership issues, making it the first time in a six-month period since negotiations began in 2005 that a new chapter has not been opened, diplomats in Brussels said Friday.

Countries which apply for EU membership have to bring their laws into line with EU rules in 35 areas, the so-called "chapters." Since Turkey began accession talks in October 2005, it has opened talks on 13 chapters, adding at least one to the list every six months.

But now, "I can confirm that this (six-month period), we can't open any chapter," an EU diplomat said on Friday. It is the first six-month period since accession talks began that no chapters at all have opened.

EU ministers for European affairs are due to meet in Brussels on Tuesday, and had been tipped to call for an opening of the chapter on competition policy, with a meeting in late December expected to formalize the move.

But diplomatic sources said that Turkey has not managed to meet the so-called "benchmarks," or technical criteria, necessary to open the talks.

The decision not to open a chapter is "fully technical: not all benchmarks for opening Chapter 8 were made, though good progress was made," a second diplomat said.

Instead, ministers are expected to issue a statement commending Turkey's efforts so far and insisting that that and other chapters will be opened when it is technically possible to do so.

The declaration "will be as forthcoming as possible, exactly to avoid signals that could be interpreted as a major crisis in relations with Turkey," the first diplomat said.

Ironically, the failure to open any further chapters now is likely to postpone the issue to a time when it could lead to a more explosive political row.

Cyprus and France have formally or informally vetoed the opening of more than a dozen chapters because of rows with Ankara, meaning that there are only three more chapters Turkey would be allowed to open without solving a long-simmering conflict with Cyprus.

Diplomats had warned that, at a rate of one chapter every six months, the situation would become critical in the first half of 2012. That now looks likely to be pushed back to the second half of 2012 - just when Cyprus takes up the rotating EU presidency.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/357588,new-membership-talks-turkey.html.