Ankara and the European Union launched a “positive agenda” to prepare Turkey for harmonization in the areas related to blocked chapters, in a move to break the two-year standstill in the country’s membership talks, Hurriyet Daily News reports.
“Our aim is to keep the accession process alive and put it properly back on track after a period of stagnation, which has been a source of frustration on both sides,” EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Füle told reporters at a joint press conference with EU Affairs Minister Egemen Bağış.
As a first step, working groups will be formed to carry out studies on eight chapters. The EU delegation started the first group’s work yesterday on Chapter 23, which covers issues related to the judiciary and fundamental rights, with the participation of Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin, according to HDN.
Turkey and the EU formally started accession negotiations in 2005, but since then Ankara has opened only 13 of 35 policy chapters due to the political blockage of Cyprus and France.
The Enlargement Strategy Paper published last October by the EU Commission included the proposal of creating a “positive agenda” in Turkish-EU relations.
Turkey and the commission have agreed to set up eight working groups on chapters, where Turkey will be offered support and guidance for further alignment with EU legislation.
Bağış said the “positive agenda” was not an alternative to accession talks, but rather aimed at supporting reforms and speeding up the process.
The move “is not to replace but to complement and support the accession process of Turkey,” said Füle.
“At the same time, it is not an abstract concept, not a window dressing. It is about a new way of looking at accession negotiations. It is the new way we communicate and interact with each other. It is the way we look at each other as two equal partners,” he said.
