Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-04-05-Speech-3-254"
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"en.20060405.21.3-254"2
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".
Madam President, in answer to Mr Beglitis’ question I can first of all say that the Council is of course very much aware of the questions he raises. The ratification and subsequent application of the protocol adapting the Ankara Agreement to take account of the accession of the 10 new EU Member States is also a priority, and indeed a short-term priority for the revised Accession Partnership agreed in January 2006.
Moreover, the European Community and its Member States noted in their declaration of 21 September 2005 that the Union would be monitoring whether the additional protocol was being applied to all EU Member States without restriction and without discrimination and would make an assessment of the matter in 2006. As you know, the application of the protocol is a precondition for opening negotiations on the relevant chapters. If the protocol is not fully implemented, that will no doubt be detrimental to progress in the negotiations as a whole. The Council will be reviewing the progress made on these questions in the course of the year.
Now so far as the unresolved border disputes are concerned, I should refer to the corresponding conclusions adopted by the European Council at its meeting in Helsinki in 1999 and at its meeting in Brussels in December 2004. There can of course be no doubt that if Turkey is seeking accession it must share the European Union’s values and objectives as enshrined in the Treaties. It must show undoubted commitment to good neighbourly relations and settle unresolved border disputes in accordance with the principle of the peaceful settlement of disputes enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations.
These questions form part of the scope of the negotiations, are short-term priorities of the Accession Partnership and are systematically raised in political dialogue meetings with Turkey.
So far as the reopening of the Theological School of Halki is concerned, this is a demand that the Union continues to raise forcefully with Turkey. Freedom of religion generally, of which we have already spoken today, is one of the areas in which further progress must be made as a matter of urgency and where concrete measures must now be taken. The enactment of a law that will deal with all the difficulties of non-Muslim religious minorities and religious communities in accordance with current European standards is one of the Accession Partnership’s short-term priorities.
I met with the president of the Turkish constitutional court only two days ago and I also raised this question then. She assured me that the constitutional court has taken measures concerning the legal personality of religious communities and their ability to acquire property and that those measures have actually obtained or will obtain legal force. It is certainly a matter that we regularly raise.
In the light of this, the Council can assure the honourable Member that we are continuing to pursue these questions in the ongoing reform process in Turkey and in so doing will take full account of the conclusions of the December 2004 European Council, the negotiating framework for Turkey and the revised Accession Partnership. The extent to which progress is made in the reforms and Turkey complies with its Treaty obligations will naturally affect the negotiation process.
As things stand at present, however, I cannot of course anticipate the conclusions the Council will reach in its further deliberations on these questions."@en1
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