BY FERAI TINC
HURRIYET- The government has prepared its third national plan for the European Union`s acquis communautaire, which means the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government has put EU reforms back on the agenda. The following oft-repeated slogan has ended up making little sense: `Without Brussels, we would continue EU reforms as the Ankara reforms.` So I`m glad the reforms are back on the government front burner, but I can`t tell you who will implement them. Can such reforms be prepared and implemented in the absence of a strong-willed political leadership? They cannot. What`s more, when there are so many examples showing the shortcomings of this will, this makes prospects seem very dim indeed.
For example, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemns environmentalists not only on the local level, but also internationally. If he says environmentalists do nothing important and dismisses non-governmental organizations` environmentalist campaigns as the work of idle people, how will he implement environmental reforms to comply with the acquis? What`s more, the environment is one of the EU acquis` most difficult chapters. I reviewed the national program yesterday. Among the laws Parliament has to pass is the Law on Protecting Nature and Biological Diversity and also the Law on Bio-safety, and a Framework Water Law. In short, the national program has things done by certain people to put their spare time to good use.
In addition, the program envisages the passage of laws to comply with international environmental agreements Turkey has signed onto: the Bonn, Gothenburg, Rotterdam and Aarhus pacts. The latter includes something Erdogan should consider when he gets angry with environmentalist opposition to nuclear power plants.
Aarhus covers the right to information about the environment, participation in decision-making mechanisms, and access to the judiciary. It also includes matters such as public bodies preparing environmental impact reports and the nation`s participation in this process.
But how can this possibly be done? How will a prime minister go from being angry at environmentalists yesterday to being able to push through these reforms with the political will to implement them tomorrow? A government can propose building nuclear power plants, but using facts to try and change the minds of nuclear opponents is also very important.
While presenting nuclear energy as an inevitable alternative, one should be knowledgeable about clean energy or at least tell people who respect the environment and natural resources that efforts in this direction are being made. There is an international trend towards prioritizing the environment as the key factor. The years to come will determine world policies and how the global demand for basic needs such as food, water and energy will be met. People will devote more time to environmental protection and how to ensure this while promoting economic productivity. But perhaps those who look blankly into the future will never be able to understand this."