Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-12-13-Speech-1-125"
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"en.20041213.10.1-125"2
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"Mr President, this debate is about nothing more or less than the destiny and the future of the European Union, which is why it is disturbing to see the extent to which confusion reigns in these deliberations. First of all there are constant references to a promise of accession allegedly given to Turkey in 1963. Even you, Commissioner, spoke of this promise, but the prospect held out by the EEC in 1963 – by the EEC, mind you – has long since been realised through the customs union. We had that decision on the customs union adopted in the face of opposition from the political group of Mr Schulz, who praised the customs union today, because we are friends of a strong and viable Turkey.
Today, however, we are dealing with quite a different matter, namely full Turkish membership of a European political union in which many of what were once foreign affairs are becoming internal matters. And anyone who seeks such a closely integrated Europe cannot favour full Turkish membership, which would degrade this European Union into a free-trade area. Commissioner, you are not bound by an imaginary promise of accession; you are bound by the Parliament which elected you and which represents the people of Europe, who are overwhelmingly opposed to Turkey’s full membership of the Union.
Secondly, it is a matter of the identity of Europe, and this is another respect in which two different yardsticks are being applied. This is a legitimate concern. Without Europeans, Europe means nothing. Europe is not an association of all types of countries in the world that meet its accession criteria, but a union of all the European states that meet the criteria and want to accede. Of course Europe has an identity and borders. That identity, Mr Özdemir, cannot be reduced to Christianity or Islam. The Muslim Bosnians are unquestionably Europeans, whereas the Christian Ethiopians clearly are not. Let me answer your point by quoting your party colleague Mr Voggenhuber, who said that Turkey is not part of greater Europe but of Asia Minor. There are limits to everything, including the scope for European integration, and it is realistic that we should take that into account. There are countries which are partly European, such as Turkey and Russia, and their partial integration – by which we mean conferring special status or establishing a privileged partnership – with the integrated European Union is a sound strategy that will ultimately benefit both parties.
I hear repeated calls for consistency. It may be a mistake, say many Heads of State or Government, to let Turkey accede or to launch accession negotiations at the present time, but consistency is essential once a promise has been made. Let me say in reply that there is nothing more consistent than lemmings. I have no desire to be led by lemmings, nor do the people of Europe. Even that controversial decision adopted in Helsinki stipulates that the Copenhagen criteria must be satisfied before negotiations can begin. I cannot imagine that Turkey will manage to fulfil the criteria within the next few days or weeks. Turkey is plainly not satisfying the criteria, as the Eurlings report and the Commission report also demonstrate, but we must face up to that truth and draw the appropriate conclusions. Turkey must continue to receive support in its quest to establish democracy and the rule of law and to integrate itself into the Western world. That is true, but full membership would be more than either Turkey or the European Union could handle, and rejection is therefore in the interests of both parties.
The Heads of State or Government will have to examine two issues in Brussels next Saturday: firstly, is it in Turkey’s best interests to pursue this approach, and, secondly, can the EU even cope with such enlargement?"@en1
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