BERLIN, Dec 13 (AFP) - Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said the EU would offer Turkey nothing short of membership negotiations at a crunch summit this week.
"We agree on several points: first, the aim is membership and the aim will not be watered down," Schroeder told reporters after talks with Balkenende, whose country currently holds the EU presidency.
"Secondly, there will be a date (for the start of membership negotiations) and thirdly, as the Commission already stated, the negotiation process will take a long time. We expect 10-15 years with an open outcome to the talks."
Balkenende said the date of the start of negotiations with Ankara had still not been set with just three days to go until the Brussels summit.
He added that the definition of an "open-ended" negotiation process must still be defined and that he was in "intensive consultations with the important players" including Greece, Cyprus, France and Austria, all of which have expressed reservations about Ankara's bid.
The summit is expected to give a green light for Turkey to start talks, but to set a series of strict conditions and warn that the whole process is likely to take at least a decade.
In particular some countries skeptical of Turkey's EU accession are calling for Ankara to be offered a "privileged partnership" with the EU as a backstop if membership negotiations fail.
German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer cautioned against this at a meeting of his EU counterparts in Brussels Monday.
"We are not deciding on (Turkey's EU) accession. That will occur in 10, maybe even 15 years' time ... What we now face is (ensuring) that Turkey's modernization moves forward," he said.
"For us the aim is (EU) membership ... any watering down of that aim would in my view lead to an interruption in the successful reform process in Turkey," he added.
Earlier in the day, Germany's conservative opposition stepped up its calls for a "privileged partnership" with Turkey and pledged to rally European support for its position.
Christian Democratic Union leader Angela Merkel invited the new head of the French ruling party, Nicolas Sarkozy, to Germany in January to develop a common position on Turkey's EU bid.
Sarkozy has been vocal in his opposition to Ankara joining the EU.

12/13/2004 14:16 GMT - AFP