Brok draft report on enlargement adopted

The Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament adopted on Thursday a draft report on enlargement prepared by German EP and chairman of the committee, Elmar Brok.
The draft report refers to Turkey and the EU customs union agreement in two paragraphs which might be amended, bearing in mind that the report will be debated and voted on at the next plenary session 11-14 December, while it is expected that there will be developments on the issue by then.
Paragraph 16 notes “the Commission’s Turkey 2006 Progress Report, which, whilst stating that political reforms in Turkey have continued, points out that their pace has slowed down”.
It confirms the shortcomings in the reform process already laid out in Parliament’s resolution of 27 September 2006 on Turkey’s progress towards accession, insists that this also includes the ratification and the full implementation by Turkey of the Additional Protocol extending the EC–Turkey Association Agreement to the ten new Member States, signed by Turkey in July 2005 and in compliance with the EU Declaration of 21 September 2005.
In paragraph 17, the report notes it “supports the efforts of Finnish Presidency to find a solution to end the current stalemate and calls on Turkey to work together in a constructive way to ensure full implementation of the Additional Protocol by the end of the year”.
Cyprus, an EU member state, has been divided since 1974 when Turkish troops invaded and occupied its northern third.
Turkey, a country aspiring to enter the EU refuses to recognise the Republic of Cyprus and to open its ports and airports to Cyprus (Customs Union Protocol), a precondition for EU membership.
The Finnish EU presidency has given Turkey time until the sixth of December to implement the Customs Union Protocol or face consequence.