ANKARA - The updated National Program is planned to be completed till June 15 and submitted to European Union (EU) authorities in July.
Sources said on Thursday that the Secretariat General for the EU continued to exchange views with concerned institutions and to update the program.
The sources noted that the deadline set for the program was June 15.
The program which is expected to be comprised of almost 500 pages will be translated by the personnel of the Secretariat.
The whole text is foreseen to be submitted to the EU in July while the summary of the program setting the outlines is expected to be presented to EU officials before.
The sources said that they took into consideration the Accession Partnership Accord, the criticisms of the first National Program, views of non-governmental organizations and the bureaucrats, and especially the National Program of Poland, the structure of which was very similar to Turkey when preparing the updated National Program.
The sources drew the attention that there were significant structural changes in the updated version.
The main criticism made to the first National Program was ''the ambiguity of expressions'', the sources stated. The sources noted that sometimes the bureaucrats faced a difficult situation when implementing that program.
Some structural changes were made in the updated version to end criticisms and to overcome the problems in implementation, the sources pointed out.
Accordingly, concrete and detailed measures are bound to a certain timetable in the updated National Program in order to confirm Turkey's determination to join the EU.
The new National Program which has been prepared more systematically gives concrete and detailed information about the administrative capacity regarding implementation.
Within this framework, Turkey will submit an action plan detailing information about the administrative capacity for implementation together with the National Program.
Action plans are prepared by candidate countries generally after negotiations start.
The updated National Program includes more concrete expressions regarding the financial sources when compared with the first one.
The updated version showed how much of the cost needed for structural changes and reforms will be provided by national budget or by the EU funds.
2003-2004 is shown as deadline for fulfillment of short term objectives while the end of 2005 is shown as deadline for fulfillment of medium term objectives.
The Cyprus and Aegean issues are believed to take place in the introduction chapter instead of the chapter of political criteria as in the first National Program.
However, there are some issues in the updated version which can't totally meet expectations and standards of the EU.
The sources pointed out that issues like services, free movement of capital, sea transportation and state assistance could be the issues which could be criticized by the EU.
Noting that the exact cost of all changes had not become definite yet, the sources said that 10-15 percent of the total cost could be met by the EU.
The sources added that structural changes in field of agriculture which was expected to be around three-fourths of total cost would be the biggest item of the costs.
(BRC-Öª) 05.06.2003