Turkey's membership talks
with the European Union hit a
new snag Monday when the EU
decided not to open
negotiations on economic and
monetary policy, amid pressure
from France.
Turkey's membership talks with
the European Union hit a new
snag Monday when the EU
decided not to open
negotiations on economic and
monetary policy, amid pressure
from France. The move -- a
brake on talks already set to
run for at least a decade --
is likely to rachet up
tensions with Ankara, which
has already expressed anger
over France's hardline stance.
Germany had long planned to
open talks with Turkey, by the
end of its turn at the EU
presidency on June 30, on
three of the 35 accession
chapters that all candidate
countries must complete. But
diplomats confirmed that one
chapter, or policy area, had
been pulled from Monday's
agenda. "The chapter on
economic and monetary policy
has been withdrawn from the
agenda of the meeting of
ambassadors," an EU diplomat
said, on condition of
anonymity. An EU official
confirmed that ambassadors
from the 27 member states had
given the green light for
talks on the two other
chapters -- statistics and
financial control -- to begin
Tuesday. He would not confirm
why the economic and monetary
chapter was withdrawn.
"There's no drama," EU
Enlargement Commissioner Olli
Rehn assured, saying the
opening of two more chapters
was "a new step forward in the
adhesion talks." "Technically,
Germany did not put it on the
table. It was not worth
putting on the agenda because
there was no unanimity to open
it," another official said,
noting "French reservations"
about the policy area. There
was no immediate comment from
France, however since coming
to power last month, French
President Nicolas Sarkozy
affirmed his opposition to
mainly-Muslim Turkey joining
the EU.
Enlargement issues in the EU
are decided by unanimity,
which means that all 27 member
states must endorse the
opening and closure of
negotiating areas and
ultimately whether a candidate
country should be allowed to
join. "I don't think that
Turkey has a place in the
Union," he said during his
first official visit to
Brussels. Sarkozy has proposed
instead that a Mediterranean
Union be created which Ankara
could be part of. But Turkey
has strong support from
Britain, and France confirmed
that it would not force the
issue until the more pressing
issue of the EU's failed
constitution was resolved.
The Union agreed on Saturday
the terms of a treaty of
reforms to replace the
constitution, which was
rejected by voters in France
and the Netherlands two years
ago, in part due to concern
about Turkey's candidacy.
Monday's move was the first
real demonstration of
Sarkozy's opposition. Turkey's
decades-long quest to join the
EU has long been dogged by
delay. Member countries
generally agree on the
importance of encouraging
reform in the mainly Muslim
but secular country -- led by
a moderate Islamic government
-- which straddles Europe, the
Middle East and the volatile
Caucasus region. But there are
fears that relatively poor
Turkey would be difficult to
integrate -- politically,
economically and socially --
and that it would win voting
powers similar to EU
heavyweights like Britain or
Italy.
The EU froze talks in December
with Turkey on eight of the 35
policy chapters because of
Ankara's on-going trade
dispute with Cyprus. It
decided to continue discussion
on chapters not linked to
trade policy, but these may
only be opened and not closed
until the Cyprus problem is
resolved. In April, the EU and
Turkey began talks on
"enterprise and industry
policy," only the second
chapter Ankara has managed to
open since "science and
research" in June 2006.
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