Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-02-10-Speech-3-112"
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"en.20100210.8.3-112"2
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"Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for this broad debate which has centred on some excellent resolutions tabled by the European Parliament, and may I congratulate the authors Mr Swoboda, Mr Thaler and Mrs Oomen-Ruijten.
Candidate countries, like Member States, must therefore show the utmost sensitivity in matters such as this. We also have to remember that the starting point for negotiations is unanimity, in other words, a unanimous agreement between existing Member States.
The solution advocated earlier by Mr Posselt, Mr Kasoulides, Mrs Cornelissen, Mr Chatzimarkakis, Mrs Göncz and Mrs Paliadeli is rooted both in negotiations under the aegis of the United Nations and in bilateral contact between the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Greece. While this is, of course, a very important matter, the European Union itself does not actually take part in such discussions under the United Nations.
At the moment therefore, I do not think we can say precisely when this conflict will be resolved; nevertheless, I can certainly say that the Spanish Presidency joins in congratulating Prime Minister Gruevski and Prime Minister Papandreou on renewing a direct dialogue. This demonstrates leadership ability in both of them and will no doubt lead to an atmosphere and an attitude of openness, to which Mr Tremopoulos referred in his speech.
We believe that the government of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia will be able to carry these negotiations forward. The prospect of joining the EU has always been of great importance for the whole country, that is, for its ethnic groups as well, whether large or small.
Finally, with regard to Turkey, a great many speeches have been made and I would like to begin by saying that negotiations are continuing at a reasonable pace – they have not been halted – and I say this in response to Mr Van Orden’s comment concerning the speed of those negotiations.
We hope to open other negotiation chapters during the Spanish Presidency. I have mentioned some of them, but naturally we cannot predict the rate of these negotiations because they depend on the progress of Turkey’s reforms and on whether Turkey meets the criteria. What is more, as you are all aware, in each case, at each stage and for each chapter of the process, there needs to be unanimous agreement.
The protection of human rights and the fulfilment of the Copenhagen criteria is a subject that has been mentioned in many speeches and which is clearly referred to in Mrs Oomen-Ruijten’s report; and it has to be said that Turkey must make more effort in this area. It has to make more effort, and I say this in response to Mr Belder, Mr Salafranca, and others, and to Mr Angourakis and Mr Klute, who have spoken about promoting human rights and fundamental freedoms.
They are right, but it is also true to say that the negotiation process continues to be the European Union's principal means of influencing the progress that is made and, while progress has indeed been made, it remains insufficient. This has also been mentioned in speeches by other Members, such as Mr Obiols, Mrs Flautre, Mrs Lunacek, Mr Preda and Mr Balčytis. I think we need to remain very aware of that when we make a balanced assessment of our negotiations with Turkey.
Cyprus has also been the subject of a great many speeches. Cyprus will, of course, be a decisive issue over coming months. It should be said that the negotiations currently under way between the leaders of the two communities on the island are positive and that a better atmosphere of trust has been established.
It goes without saying that resolving the Cyprus issue would eliminate this obstacle, or all of the obstacles, or at least some of the obstacles that might hinder Turkey’s progress towards accession and, whatever happens, it would send out an important, positive signal to the region as a whole, with reconciliation as the basic objective, as Mr Howitt so rightly put it.
I think we can say that the large majority of you has spoken in favour of the enlargement process as an essential part of European integration. As Mr Brok has said, enlargement has been a success for the European Union, and other Members have mentioned some of the examples of success in the enlargement process. It is also a vital element of progress towards democratic reform and of democratic deepening in those countries that are moving closer to the European Union, those that have begun their entry into the European Union and those which have the prospect of joining. As Mr Mauro has stressed, this always implies a commitment to meet the Copenhagen conditions, which is another element of broad consensus, and therefore to show full respect for human rights.
We all agree, of course, that Turkey has to comply with the additional protocol. There have been continuous calls for it to do so, and every time we have a dialogue with Turkey, the Council reminds it of that commitment, which must be honoured. On 8 December 2009, the Council adopted conclusions in which it was stated that if no progress were made on the issue, then the Council would maintain the measures adopted in 2006, which would have a permanent effect on the negotiations’ overall progress.
Mrs Koppa and Mr Salavrakos have also referred to other incidents: violations of air space and incidents in the Aegean Sea. So I repeat, neighbourly relations are an indispensable requirement for measuring Turkey’s progress in the negotiations. The Council’s 8 December conclusions, which I have mentioned many times, sent Turkey a message on that matter. I assure you that the Presidency is going to following the issue very closely and pursue it at all levels when appropriate.
In any case, Madam President, the Presidency’s position on negotiations with Turkey is absolutely clear. We are in agreement with the renewed consensus on enlargement, which the Council decided in December 2006, and this means that the objective of the negotiations is certainly Turkey’s future accession to the European Union.
I entirely agree with Mr Cashman when he said that the treatment of minorities is what singles a country out, and not its treatment of the majority, although that is important as well. This, therefore, is how we should measure respect for human rights and, as a result, compliance with the Copenhagen criteria.
Another point of general agreement was that for the Western Balkans, the European perspective is a fundamental element in their progress – as Mrs Giannakou and Mr Winkler pointed out – and this is not only in the interest of those countries but also, as Mrs Göncz has said, in the interest of the European Union.
As regards Croatia, we have also had general agreement on the need to open new chapters as soon possible, but it should be said that currently 28 out of 35 chapters have already been opened and that 17 of those have provisionally closed. The Spanish Presidency will continue to work to achieve new progress in the negotiations, together with the European Council and the Council, in order to bring them to their final phase soon. That is why I mentioned earlier that the accession meetings to be held with Croatia will begin immediately.
Our expectation is that the membership negotiations roadmap will be completed this year, as the report’s author, Mr Swoboda, has proposed, and as some Members have requested, including Mr Hökmark, Mr Berlinguer and Mr Lisek, who expressed the hope that the Polish Presidency might see Croatia's accession to the European Union.
So progress has been made with regard to Croatia, as Mr Poręba has emphasised. However, we still have work to do; there are shortcomings in the legal area, for example, as Mrs Serracchiani pointed out.
As a result, we think we have reached an important closing stage of Croatia’s accession and we hope that the negotiations will be concluded and Croatia will join the Union as soon as possible, following the ratification process of the relevant European Union treaties.
Turning now to Macedonia, the debate centred primarily on the question of its name. Obviously the name is not one of the Copenhagen requirements, but clearly good, neighbourly relations play a vital role in the process of shaping national policy in all the candidate countries."@en1
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