Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-09-26-Speech-2-197"
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"en.20060926.24.2-197"2
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".
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the Finnish Presidency, I wish to thank the European Parliament, and particularly Camiel Eurlings, for what is a comprehensive report on Turkey’s progress in the accession process.
Progress is being monitored with regard to all the essential issues which were mentioned in the declaration of 21 September 2005 by the European Community and the Member States.
A spirit of enterprise and determination will need to continue if the European Union’s standards and membership requirements are to be met. This determination is not just required of the applicant country, but also of the Union itself. This is why I want to say very clearly that Turkey’s accession process is very important to us and the Finnish Presidency will do all it can to ensure that progress can be made in negotiations.
The Union supports Turkey in its aspirations to membership, but progress in the accession negotiations obviously depends very largely on Turkey’s own actions. The accession process will continue while Turkey continues its process of reform and discharges its obligations accordingly.
Every debate is a good opportunity for us to get to know more about Turkey’s accession process, to inspire both the citizens of the EU countries and Turkey to take an active part in this process, and to support the Turkish Government in its accession goals. Finland, the country holding the Presidency of the Council, will naturally take into consideration the views expressed by the European Parliament.
In early November, the Commission will be bringing out its annual report on Turkey’s progress in the negotiations on its accession. The European Council will examine this report very carefully. In today’s debate, I would like to focus attention on a few points in those negotiations.
The Presidency shares the European Parliament’s concern regarding the reform process in Turkey. Turkey must accelerate the implementation of political reforms and the reform process generally. Full and effective implementation is vital to ensuring that the reforms are permanent and ongoing. We need concrete results.
We share Parliament’s concern regarding the slow progress that Turkey has made in the crucially important areas of fundamental freedoms and human rights. Although the situation in Turkey has improved compared with five years ago, the country needs to continue making tangible reforms, especially in the areas of freedom of expression, freedom of religion, cultural rights, women’s rights and action against torture and ill treatment. Most of these issues have been described as priorities in the Revised Accession Partnership, and Turkey must implement the appropriate action without delay.
At present, the Presidency is awaiting the adoption of the Ninth Reform package regarding Turkish law, whose purpose it is to provide answers to some of the problems that I have just mentioned. The new laws must be fully compatible with EU standards.
The Council expects immediate action from Turkey on the matter of freedom of expression in particular, in order to avoid in future the kind of legal action that has been brought against people who have expressed non-violent opinions. As regards religious freedom, we expect legislation on the rights of the non-Muslim minorities to be fully implemented without delay, in accordance with European standards.
Like Parliament, we are concerned about the situation in South-East Turkey. The Presidency has condemned the recent bomb attacks in various places in Turkey, and regards them as senseless terrorist acts. Terrorist acts can never be justified. This is a multi-agency issue which we are following carefully as part of the reform process. Turkey quickly needs to evolve a comprehensive approach in order to reduce regional inequality. The aim here should be for Turkey to provide better opportunities for all its citizens, including the Kurds, and to strengthen the country’s economic, social and cultural potential.
In addition to the Copenhagen criteria, Turkey’s progress in the accession process is being judged within the context of the requirements of the Negotiating Framework, which include the implementation of the Additional Protocol to the Ankara Agreement. Progress here is essential for continuing the talks. Turkey must apply the Protocol fully to all the Member States of the European Union and remove obstacles to the free movement of goods, including transport restrictions. The initiation of talks fundamentally connected with this issue will depend on how Turkey discharges its contractual obligations towards the Member States. If it were to neglect these, this would have an overall impact on the progress of talks."@en1
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