First of all my regrets that, not that my hair was not combed but that I came a bit late. It only shows that the Commission is a very political body and we held a serious and earnest debate on the matter and we were able to achieve a consensual decision in the end of the debate. Let me first remind you of the essential background:
The signature of the Additional Protocol of the Ankara agreement was one of the conditions for the opening of accession negotiations with Turkey in December 2004.
This was the cause of the long night negotiations in the December European Council in the middle of December 2004.
Then in July 2005, Turkey signed the Ankara Protocol but added a declaration saying that such signature would not mean any form of recognition of the Republic of Cyprus
This was of course very badly received by the EU and its Member States.
Consequently, on 21 September 2005, the EU, the Community and its Member States adopted a declaration making clear that the EU expected full, non-discriminatory implementation of the Ankara Protocol and the removal of all obstacles to the free movement of goods, including restrictions on means of transport.
This was supposed to happen in 2006 according to this EU declaration of September 2005 and hence we have the deadline of end 2006.
In our progress report presented on the 8 of November, some weeks ago, the Commission again recalled the obligations of Turkey and we announced that we would make a recommendation ahead of the European Council if Turkey had not fulfilled its commitments.
Meanwhile, the Commission fully supported the efforts of the Finnish Presidency. We consider the Finnish initiative as an innovative and realistic endeavour to break the stalemate on issues related to Cyprus and for Turkey to meet its obligations.
However, as you know, on Monday 27 November, the Finnish Presidency concluded that circumstances do not permit for an agreement to be reached between the parties at this stage.
For those who do no yet know it is worth recalling that FM Erkki Tuomioja has some ‘genetic’ experience on Cyprus, his late father Sakari Tuomioja was the first UN Special envoy who got ill and passed away during his mission, in 1963.
This latest serious diplomatic effort and its fate, shows once again the utmost importance of a resumption of talks on a comprehensive settlement in Cyprus under the auspices of the UN. The Commission will continue to support all efforts and we are ready to mobilise our expertise and political support, as soon as the UN proceeds to resume talks on a comprehensive settlement.
As of today, Turkey has not fully implemented the Ankara Protocol; restrictions to the free movement of goods remain in force.
Therefore, the Commission adopted today a recommendation in preparation for the General Affairs Council on 11 December.
The principles and parameters underpinning our recommendation are based on the EU declaration of 21 September 2005.
That declaration reads that failure to ensure full, non discriminatory implementation of the Ankara Protocol, and the removal of all obstacles to the free movement of goods, including restrictions on the means of transport, will affect:
1. the opening of negotiations on the relevant chapters; and
2. the overall progress in the negotiations.
The EU is a community of law. Failure to meet them cannot remain without consequences. We need to make this clear. ‘Pacta sunt servanda’ is a fundamental European principle.
At the same time, it is in the key interest of the EU and Turkey to keep the accession process alive. Europe needs a stable and democratic Turkey and Turkey needs Europe both politically and economically. This is why we started accession negotiations a year ago. And this remains valid more than ever.
This is precisely why, today, we confirm that these negotiations must continue, although at a slower pace. There will be no train crash, but there is a slowing down because of works further down the tracks, however the train continues to move. It is now for both EU and Turkey of a strong strategic importance that our relations continue to grow stronger and deeper in the coming years.
Concretely, and I trust that you have distributed the documents in the meantime, we suggest not to open negotiations on chapters covering policy areas relevant to Turkey’s restrictions to the Republic of Cyprus until such restrictions are lifted.
All together 8 chapters are concerned. These are: free movement of goods, right of establishment and freedom to provide services, financial services, agriculture and rural development, fisheries, transport, customs union, and external relations because of the trade policy aspects.
In addition, we recommend that no chapter be closed until Turkey has fulfilled its commitments.
Meanwhile, work should continue. The screening process should be pursued and completed without any undue interference. We should continue to work on benchmarks. For the remaining chapters, they should be opened once the technical conditions are met.
For instance 4 chapters could be opened any day without any undue interference. These are: economic and monetary policy, enterprise and industrial policy, financial control, as well as education and culture.
Our measures will remain in place if the Council endorses this recommendation until the Commission confirms that Turkey has fulfilled its commitments. We will inform on the matter regularly in our annual progress reports.
I want to say that Turkey still has time and Turkey can still score a golden goal before the Foreign Ministers meeting, meet the obligations, and hence this recommendation would then be useless.
Finally, we also reiterate the importance of the resumption of full-fledged negotiations on a comprehensive settlement in Cyprus in 2007. It is in the EU’s interest to see a reunification of the island and the end of a conflict on European soil, a conflict that is now more than 40 years old. Such division is simply unacceptable within our European Union, which is founded on the principles of peace, reconciliation and human rights.
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