EU ‘committed to Turkey’

Bloc should stick to its pledge to Ankara, Commission president says

EC President Jose Manuel Barroso addresses a press conference in Brussels yesterday. He said the EU was obliged to keep its pledges to Turkey and other accession candidates.

BRUSSELS/ANKARA (Combined reports) - European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said yesterday that the EU must stick to its commitments to Turkey and other nations regarding their future membership in the bloc, despite public concern over expansion plans.

“We should keep the commitments made; this is very clear. We are not going to propose to change the commitments made,” he told a news conference on the eve of an EU summit.

He also warned that failure to overcome deadlock over the plans for a EU constitution could leave the bloc facing “permanent crisis and paralysis.”

And he appealed for leaders of the 25 member nations to overcome their deep differences over how to share out billions of euros from the EU’s budget.

The EU has pledged to open membership talks with Turkey in October and has signed treaties with Romania and Bulgaria under which they are due to join on January 1, 2007.

Voters in France and the Netherlands expressed concern about the expansion plans when they voted down the EU Constitution in recent referendum votes, prompting doubts about the bloc’s commitment to the timetable for bringing in new members.

Barroso said the EU had to examine its capacity to take on more nations and look at the impact and pace of further enlargements on the “identity” of the block. However, he said it was a question of “good faith” to stick to existing agreements.

With leaders digging in ahead of the summit to defend their handouts from the EU’s over 100-billion-euro ($120 billion) annual budget over the coming years, Barroso urged all to compromise.

“I appeal to all governments; each must contribute to find a solution,” he said.

He said an agreement on the money would help the bloc recover from the rejection of its constitution plans by French and Dutch voters.

“The results of the referendums in the Netherlands and France have plunged the European Union into doubt,” he said, adding it had raised the question of what is the point of the European project.

He said Europe needed to pause for reflection before deciding on how to proceed with the constitution.

Meanwhile, an EU source maintained that Turkey has lost its drive in its attempt to become more democratic as part of its bid to join the European Union and has even regressed in some areas.

“There is no particular progress. In certain cases, there is regression,” said the source, who insisted on anonymity, and cited the judiciary as one problem area. But a senior Turkish diplomat brushed aside the criticism. “I am stunned to hear such statements,” the diplomat told AFP. “There is nothing left for us to do...” (AP, AFP)