BRUSSELS - The final declaration which was approved on Friday by the heads of state and government of the European Union (EU) in the EU summit also includes paragraphs on Turkey and Cyprus.
The Turkey part of the final declaration said that the European Council welcomed the considerable and determined efforts by the Turkish government to accelerate the pace of reforms, many of which were significant in political and legal terms and stated that those reforms have brought Turkey closer to the EU.
Noting that Turkey has also made significant progress in meeting the Copenhagen economic criteria, it said that however further sustained efforts were needed, in particular as regards justice, basic and cultural rights, civil-military relations and macro-economic imbalances.
The declaration underlined that the importance of Turkey's expression of political will to settling the Cyprus problem and stated that a settlement of the Cyprus problem would greatly facilitate Turkey's membership aspirations.
''The European Council encourages Turkey to build on the substantial progress achieved so far in its preparations for launching accession negotiations and underlines its commitment to work towards full implementation of the pre-accession strategy with Turkey, including the revised Accession Partnership, in view of the decision to be taken by the European Council in December 2004 on the basis of the report and recommendations of the Commission.''
Regarding the Cyprus issue, the declaration said that ''the European Council reiterates its preference for a reunited Cyprus to join the Union on May 1, 2004, in order to allow all Cypriots to enjoy a secure and prosperous future and the benefits of the EU accession... The European Council urges all parties concerned, in particular Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot leadership, to strongly support the UN Secretary General's efforts and in this context calls for an immediate resumption of talks on the basis of his proposals. Following a settlement, the Union is ready to provide financial assistance for the development of the northern part of Cyprus.''
The final declaration gave the message that if the issue was solved, the EU was ready for financial aid for development of the north of the island.
(EÖ-AÖ) 12.12.2003