Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-12-14-Speech-2-081"
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"en.19991214.4.2-081"2
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"Mr President, the presidency has set out two propositions in the Helsinki conclusions, namely that an efficient and credible enlargement process must be sustained and that applicant countries are participating in the accession process on an equal footing. When this is set against the fact that candidate status has been granted to Turkey and the simultaneous statement that there will be a conference in the spring of 2000, in which Turkey will not take part, then it is clear that this candidate status has been granted prematurely and is a blank cheque which will come bouncing back. Even the improvements within Turkey noted by the Commission and the Council presidency must be subject to cautious appraisal when you think about the death penalty being upheld for Mr Öçalan, the fact that the Sakharov prize-winner Leyla Zana is still in prison because she stood up for her right to freedom of speech, the fact that the Kurdish question has not been resolved and all the other aspects of this document in connection with progress in Turkey. Discussions on stage and in the wings clearly show that Europe is not being frank when it comes to Turkey.
The Helsinki conclusions are extremely positive in other areas, such as foreign and security policy and defence policy; but when it comes to Turkey’s membership, they are contradictory in the extreme. There is a danger that far too much is being expected of Europe as regards this part of the enlargement process and that too much is being expected of Turkey itself.
Anyone who wants to be a member must be prepared to become a member on our terms. I read that Mr Ecevit stressed at the conference that Turkey had a fundamental right to membership of the European Union. I consider that a very risky statement. I am not sure that the political classes in Turkey have any idea of what is in store for them when they have to waive sovereign rights.
We therefore consider that this decision by the Summit was rushed and inappropriate. If you read the conditions, which state that negotiations with Turkey will still not begin and that Turkey will just have candidate status, i.e. no separate legal instrument has been opened, then this means – as it says here – that the UNO must endeavour to settle disputes, which should be settled by 2004 on the basis of UNO resolutions. These are all things which, in our view, do not justify giving Turkey candidate status at this point in time.
Once Turkey joins, Europe will have to undergo a radical change of face and objectives. Mr Prodi himself said that we must urgently discuss values and borders. For us, an independent approach is the best alternative: security partnership, further development of customs union and permanent political dialogue, rather than announcing candidate status which, in the final analysis, is worth nothing and is more likely to create than to solve problems."@en1
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