Tweet
FRANCE BREAKS TURKEY'S EU DEADLOCK
February 12, 2013 6:31 pm
By Hugh Carnegy in Paris, Tony Barber in London and Daniel Dombey
in Istanbul
France has moved to relaunch the EU's strained relationship with
Turkey, reversing a block on Ankara's membership negotiations after
years of deadlock.
Laurent Fabius, French foreign minister, on Tuesday told his Turkish
counterpart, that Paris had agreed to resume accession talks,
a decision that marks a warming in ties between the two countries
after a long period of tension under former President Nicolas Sarkozy.
But officials in Brussels and Ankara remained concerned that more
than seven years after Turkey's accession talks formally began and
with most of the negotiation issues still paralysed, there may be
little time to breathe life into the process.
The EU is deeply divided over whether eventually to admit Turkey as
a full member. The bloc's attractions for Ankara have, meanwhile,
diminished during the eurozone crisis.
In a recent opinion poll in Turkey almost two-thirds of respondents
said they now opposed joining the EU. Whether out of frustration or
to put pressure on the EU, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, prime minister,
has recently raised the possibility of deepening ties with the
Russian-Chinese backed Shanghai Co-operation Organisation instead.
Mr Fabius told Ahmet Davutoglu, Turkey's foreign minister, that
negotiations should resume on one of the 35 negotiating "chapters"
in the talks - on regional policy. He indicated further chapters
could be opened in the future.
The step is expected to pave the way for President Francois Hollande
to visit Turkey, although no date has yet been set. The French
foreign ministry said that France wanted to impart "a new spirit"
to relations between Ankara and the EU.
"This is certainly a change of attitude from the former government,"
said one official in Paris, although he added it was "too early" to
say whether France would now swing fully behind Turkish EU membership,
which Mr Sarkozy explicitly opposed.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Egemen Bagis, Turkey's
Europe minister, said he was hopeful the EU would now formally open
negotiations on regional policy during Ireland's presidency of the
EU in the first half of 2013. But he cautioned that further progress
could be elusive.
"At a time when Europe is going through its own monetary problems,
getting a consensus among EU states on opening Chapter 17 on monetary
policy [also currently blocked by Paris] would be hard, but not
impossible," he said.
No chapter has been opened since June 2010. Aside from regional
affairs, France is still blocking four chapters, Cyprus another six,
and the EU has ruled that eight cannot be opened nor can any chapters
be concluded because of Turkish policies on the eastern Mediterranean
island and Ankara's failure to abide by a related EU agreement.
The French foreign ministry said Paris expected Turkey to "contribute
in concrete terms" to further improvement of relations. Many
EU officials are watching to see if Ankara will relax draconian
anti-terror laws - long criticised by Brussels - as a byproduct
of negotiations with the Kurdistan Workers party, a militant group
internationally classified as terrorist.
But they argue that with Turkey facing a presidential election next
year - in which Mr Erdogan is almost certain to run - there is little
time to restore credibility to the negotiations before electoral
politics intervene.
Turkey officials add that they also want to see stronger commitments
by the EU towards eventual visa-free travel European visa regulations
are a perennial headache for Turkish businessmen.
Although the European Commission is offering the start of talks on
visa liberalisation in return for Ankara signing and implementing
an agreement on readmitting illegal migrants, Turkey wants greater
clarity from Brussels on a road map towards visa liberalisation.
Asked if there were any progress on the issue, Mr Bagis said:
"It takes two to tango. We are on the dance floor waiting for the
Commission to join us."
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/24ef5caa-7536-11e2-a9f3-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2Ko12ZRnb
February 12, 2013 6:31 pm
By Hugh Carnegy in Paris, Tony Barber in London and Daniel Dombey
in Istanbul
France has moved to relaunch the EU's strained relationship with
Turkey, reversing a block on Ankara's membership negotiations after
years of deadlock.
Laurent Fabius, French foreign minister, on Tuesday told his Turkish
counterpart, that Paris had agreed to resume accession talks,
a decision that marks a warming in ties between the two countries
after a long period of tension under former President Nicolas Sarkozy.
But officials in Brussels and Ankara remained concerned that more
than seven years after Turkey's accession talks formally began and
with most of the negotiation issues still paralysed, there may be
little time to breathe life into the process.
The EU is deeply divided over whether eventually to admit Turkey as
a full member. The bloc's attractions for Ankara have, meanwhile,
diminished during the eurozone crisis.
In a recent opinion poll in Turkey almost two-thirds of respondents
said they now opposed joining the EU. Whether out of frustration or
to put pressure on the EU, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, prime minister,
has recently raised the possibility of deepening ties with the
Russian-Chinese backed Shanghai Co-operation Organisation instead.
Mr Fabius told Ahmet Davutoglu, Turkey's foreign minister, that
negotiations should resume on one of the 35 negotiating "chapters"
in the talks - on regional policy. He indicated further chapters
could be opened in the future.
The step is expected to pave the way for President Francois Hollande
to visit Turkey, although no date has yet been set. The French
foreign ministry said that France wanted to impart "a new spirit"
to relations between Ankara and the EU.
"This is certainly a change of attitude from the former government,"
said one official in Paris, although he added it was "too early" to
say whether France would now swing fully behind Turkish EU membership,
which Mr Sarkozy explicitly opposed.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Egemen Bagis, Turkey's
Europe minister, said he was hopeful the EU would now formally open
negotiations on regional policy during Ireland's presidency of the
EU in the first half of 2013. But he cautioned that further progress
could be elusive.
"At a time when Europe is going through its own monetary problems,
getting a consensus among EU states on opening Chapter 17 on monetary
policy [also currently blocked by Paris] would be hard, but not
impossible," he said.
No chapter has been opened since June 2010. Aside from regional
affairs, France is still blocking four chapters, Cyprus another six,
and the EU has ruled that eight cannot be opened nor can any chapters
be concluded because of Turkish policies on the eastern Mediterranean
island and Ankara's failure to abide by a related EU agreement.
The French foreign ministry said Paris expected Turkey to "contribute
in concrete terms" to further improvement of relations. Many
EU officials are watching to see if Ankara will relax draconian
anti-terror laws - long criticised by Brussels - as a byproduct
of negotiations with the Kurdistan Workers party, a militant group
internationally classified as terrorist.
But they argue that with Turkey facing a presidential election next
year - in which Mr Erdogan is almost certain to run - there is little
time to restore credibility to the negotiations before electoral
politics intervene.
Turkey officials add that they also want to see stronger commitments
by the EU towards eventual visa-free travel European visa regulations
are a perennial headache for Turkish businessmen.
Although the European Commission is offering the start of talks on
visa liberalisation in return for Ankara signing and implementing
an agreement on readmitting illegal migrants, Turkey wants greater
clarity from Brussels on a road map towards visa liberalisation.
Asked if there were any progress on the issue, Mr Bagis said:
"It takes two to tango. We are on the dance floor waiting for the
Commission to join us."
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/24ef5caa-7536-11e2-a9f3-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2Ko12ZRnb