Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-12-13-Speech-1-079"
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"en.20041213.10.1-079"2
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"Mr President, I should like to start by congratulating my fellow countryman, Mr Eurlings, who had the onerous task of acting as rapporteur on this very complex issue, and I think he has done an excellent job of it so far. Needless to say, we in our group have also closely followed the debate on Turkey and on the question of whether negotiations should be opened. In fact, we as a group have recently paid a visit to Turkey to find out for ourselves about the discussions that are going on there, and it has borne out our position. In our view, it should, in principle, be possible for Turkey to become a Member State of the European Union, which is, of course, the first question you must answer.
Turkey’s integration in Europe will be a crucial step, and a symbolic one. In this respect, the EU should not, in principle, behave like a closed club, but should open itself up to a country that is guided by European standards. We expect Turkish membership to have a positive effect in the future, not least on the developments in what we might call the extended Middle East. Progress within Turkey plays an important role too, of course. The democratic changes mainly benefit the Turkish people, but Europe also represents the values which Turkey wishes to adopt. Turkey is changing fast. Over the past few years, Turkey has demonstrated an enormous capacity to reform in many areas, and it is that process that we are keen to support in future.
In the past, our group has emphasised four aspects. First of all, the negotiations are about EU membership. We reject any other formula that has a different goal in mind. Secondly – and everyone should realise this – the negotiations will be protracted. Thirdly, given that the negotiations will take such a long time and so much needs to be done, the opening of the negotiations does not, of course, guarantee a successful outcome from the outset. Actual accession will eventually depend on the progress of the reforms and the developments in Turkey itself.
As far as human rights are concerned, we are positive about the way things are moving at present, provided, of course, that it continues. In the event of any regression, there is the express possibility of suspending the negotiations. That has happened in the past in the case of Slovakia. When we were dissatisfied with the political situation in that country, the negotiations were suspended for a number of years. In that respect, there is no discrimination. Since all these items can also be found in Mr Eurlings’ report, he can count on our support this week."@en1
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