Turkish membership dominates talks over EU's long-term future

Dec 14, 2007, 10:41 GMT

Brussels - The question of whether Turkey should one day be allowed to join the European Union was expected to dominate Friday's summit talks in Brussels about the bloc's long-term future.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has called for a 'group of the wise,' or 'reflection group,' to look at the challenges facing the 27-member bloc in 15 to 20 years' time.

According to a draft text of the conclusions that prime ministers and heads of state were expected to reach on Friday, the Reflection Group would help 'anticipate and meet challenges more effectively in the longer term (horizon 2020-2030).'

The group would be expected to report to EU leaders in June 2010 and would not be allowed to re-open discussions on institutional matters - which were closed with the signing Thursday of the Lisbon Treaty by EU leaders meeting in the Portuguese capital.

Instead, the group would 'need to take into account likely developments within and outside Europe and examine in particular how the stability and prosperity of both the Union and of the wider region might best be served in the longer term.'

The draft text makes no explicit reference to enlargement, but many observers in Brussels believe France wants to steer the group into concluding that Turkey should never join the EU.

Such a position is strongly opposed by countries like Britain, which favour Turkey's membership.

On Monday, France infuriated Britain and Sweden by getting foreign ministers to drop the term 'accession' from the headline of a text referring to looming annual talks with Ankara.

In their conclusions, ministers also regretted 'the limited progress achieved in political reform in Turkey in 2007.'

Speaking Monday during a meeting of Liberal leaders, Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen said the issue of Turkish membership was being approached the wrong way, arguing that Turkey's European prospects were largely in the hands of the Turks.

Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer, whose country opposes Turkish membership, said fellow EU leaders should have a more 'realistic' approach to enlargement.

'We all know that we've got our hands full. We have to guarantee peace and stability in the Western Balkans and the EU shouldn't take too much on itself. Because if you do too much all at once, it's easy to fail,' Gusenbauer said.

According to the draft conclusions of Friday's European Council, the Reflection group would consist of no more than nine notable Europeans. Its chairperson would be called to submit a list of names to an EU summit scheduled for March 2008.

Potential chairpersons being considered by EU leaders on Friday included Latvia's former president, Vaira Vike-Freiberga; the former head of Nokia, Jorma Ollila; Spain's former premier, Felipe Gonzalez; the head of Italy's Unicredit banking group, Alessandro Profumo; and the former president of the European Parliament, Pat Cox.