STRASBOURG, July 21 (AFP) - Dutch Prime Minister and current EU leader Jan Peter Balkenende warned Wednesday that Europe must not let Islamophobia cloud a decision later this year on whether to start membership talks with Turkey.
Balkenende, presenting the Dutch EU presidency's priorities to the European Parliament, also underlined that the EU should not create new hurdles for Ankara to overcome, beyond the conditions it has already set.
The EU has vowed to decide at a December summit whether or not to start EU entry talks with Turkey, depending on the vast Muslim country's progress on meeting a series of political and economic reform conditions.
"The decision must be arrived at honestly, under the ground rules to which we previously, in 2002, firmly committed ourselves. That means strict application of the criteria laid down, but without inventing new criteria.
"We must not allow ourselves to be guided by fear, for example of Islam," Balkenende said. "Raising barriers to any particular religion does not fit in with Europe's shared values."
He underlined that the EU must not let religion sway its decision in any way. Critics warn that the EU, whose current members are mostly secular or Christian dominated, cannot realistically take in Turkey.
But Balkenende firmly rebuffed that argument.
"Islam is not the problem. Muslims, Christians and people of other beliefs can live together perfectly well. The problem is not religion but misuse of religion to sow hatred and intolerance and to repress women," he said.
The EU, which expanded from 15 to 25 members in May and hopes to see Romania and Bulgaria join in 2007 if they are ready, has hailed reforms pushed through by the Turkish government, but warned that more needs to be done.
The December EU decision will be heavily based on a report on Turkish progress expected to be published in October by the European Commission, the EU's executive arm.
Commission chief Romano Prodi, also addressing the Strasbourg EU assembly, said he could not forecast the report's recommendations.
"It is too early today to tell you what the content of the report will be. "We are collecting .. evidence from all quarters. It is going to be exhaustive and objective," he said.