First stage of EU membership talks under way for Croatia, Turkey

21/10/2005

The European Commission started the screening of Croatian and Turkish legislation Thursday -- the first stage in accession negotiations with the two countries, which is expected to take about 11 months to complete.

(EurActiv, Irish Times - 21/10/05; AFP, AP, Reuters, EUobserver, SEE Security Monitor, Turkish Press, Turkish Daily News - 20/10/05)

"Our priority in negotiations will be quality, not deadlines," Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader has said. [Getty Images]

Seventeen days after EU member states decided to open accession negotiations with Croatia and Turkey, the European Commission (EC) started the screening of the two countries' legislation Thursday (20 October).

This first stage in the process of talks likely would be completed in about 11 months. After that, the actual negotiations on 35 chapters, covering specific policy areas, will begin.

During a joint meeting Thursday, EC officials explained the Union's so-called acquis communautaire -- consisting of 80,000 pages of law -- and briefed the two countries' delegations on procedural issues. Then screening began in one of the relatively easy chapters, science and research. Education and culture has been chosen as the second chapter, with screening reportedly scheduled to begin on 26 October.

During the second phase, which is expected to start later this year, Croatian and Turkish national laws will be screened in bilateral meetings.

During the screening process, the candidate countries will be required to detail their plans for approximation of national legislation with EU laws. The practical implementation of those plans will be subject to EU monitoring and evaluation.

The next stage in the process of membership talks will come when the EU decides to open negotiations on the first of the 35 chapters. On the basis of the screening, the EC could recommend making the launch of talks on some of the chapters conditional on the fulfilment of specific requirements.

A negotiating chapter can only be opened and closed with the consent of all 25 EU member states. But there is no requirement for a negotiating chapter to be closed before another can be opened, so that negotiations on several different chapters can run simultaneously. According to reports, the first negotiating chapter -- most likely, science and research -- could be opened as early as December.

Croatia hopes to be able to open talks on six other negotiating chapters this year, namely, culture and education, public procurement, competition, freedom to provide services, free movement of capital, and agriculture.

Citing EU officials, the AP reported that refusal by Turkey to include Cyprus in rules governing the free movement of goods within the bloc could cause delays in its negotiations process. Turkey has not recognised the Greek Cypriot administration and does not allow Cypriot ships and planes to access its ports and airports, although it signed a protocol extending its customs agreement with the Union to its ten new members, including Cyprus.

Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul suggested on Thursday that Ankara could change its position soon.

"We are proposing to end all restrictions on the island of Cyprus," Gul said.

Croatia is hoping to conclude its membership talks by 2009, while Turkey's negotiations are expected to last at least a decade. Both Croatian and Turkish officials have indicated that they do not want to rush in order to complete their negotiations as quickly as possible.

"Our priority in negotiations will be quality, not deadlines," Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader has said. "Working very hard in negotiations is really worthwhile, to ensure that we have a better future."

Turkey's chief negotiator with the EU, Economy Minister Ali Babacan, described Thursday's meetings in Brussels as "the first step on a long road" for his country.