By Sedat Ergin
After EU Term President Luxemburg’s EU Minister Nicholas Schmit’s visit to Ankara yesterday, relations between the EU and Turkey have again gained momentum. Yesterday’s visit will be followed by the Troika meeting scheduled for next week. The gathering will be attended by Luxemburg’s Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn, Britain’s EU Minister Denis MacShane, EU Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana.
It’s also probable that the senior EU officials will be welcomed by the chief negotiator for Turkey’s EU talks which the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government will soon appoint.
Talks on the extension of the customs union in order to include the new members of EU are to begin in Brussels tomorrow.
In light of the recent upsurge in activity, Turkey’s EU schedule for this year can be summarized as follows:
* Accession Partnership Document delayed
An ‘Accession Partnership Document’ involving Europe’s new political demands from Turkey such as issuing a political code of ethics, implementing judicial reforms and laws concerning minorities had been due to be released in April.
But the EU has decided to postpone the document’s release to November.
The postponement is likely to relieve the AKP government, because the political demands contained in the document will be controversial and put the government under pressure.
* Outline of Negotiations to be issued in June
The second important phase of the negotiations will be left behind when the EU issues an outline for the negotiations through which Turkey’s membership talks will be conducted.
The EU Commission will present a draft of the outline to the Council of Europe in June. Finalization of the document will have to wait till July, when Britain will take over as term president.
By the time our membership talks begin on Oct. 3, the document has must have been officially recognized by the Council of Europe.
* Will the Adjustment Protocol catch up?
The most delicate topic concerning Turkey’s membership talks is the expansion of the customs union in order to include the EU’s new members.
The adjustment protocol, which puts the issue of recognition of the Greek Cypriot government by Turkey on the front burner, is due to be settled before we start our talks in October. In order to catch up with the schedule, the protocol needs to be completed this summer.
Should all these be settled in due time, an intergovernmental conference will be assembled, indicating that negotiations between Turkey and Europe for full membership have begun.
For this reason, we must put the next seven months – a rather short period – to very good use.