Communist past not an issue for Enlargement commissioner (Roundup)

Jan 12, 2010, 17:04 GMT

Brussels - The Czech Republic's candidate for the European Commission successfully completed his hearing in front of the European Parliament in Brussels on Tuesday, despite fears that his communist past might lead some deputies to question his appointment.

Stefan Fuele was nominated as Enlargement and Neighbourhood policy commissioner. He was only 27 when the Berlin Wall came down in 1989, but between 1981 and 1986 he trained in the Soviet Union at Moscow's State Institute of International Relations, and he was an active member of the Czechoslovakian communist party.

Fuele, now a socialist, told members of parliament (MEP) that his personal history is 'a result of the time and place I grew up in.' But he added that his 'record in the last 20 years,' which he spent as a diplomat at the UN, in Lithuania, the Britain and NATO representing Czechoslovakia first and then the Czech Republic, 'is clear.'

'And it is in this spirit that I am offering my capacities also to the European commission, if you agree,' he concluded. MEPs applauded, dispelling speculation about a possible rejection of Fuele over his past politics. Similar fears were expressed over Hungary's and Slovakia's candidates, yet to be interviewed.

Under EU rules, the parliament cannot veto individual members of the commission, but can reject the entire team if it finds that one or more candidates are unsuitable. The legislature is set to vote on January 26 after having hearings with all 26 would-be commissioners.

During his three-hour grilling, Fuele vowed to continue entry talks with Turkey despite opposition in key member states such as France and Germany.

'I intend to go ahead with accession negotiations,' he said, claiming that 'they are the best leverage we have to help Turkey modernize.'

Fuele stressed that despite ongoing concerns about human rights, 'there has been a lot of progress' in the country as 'many taboos from the past ... are now debated openly in society.'

Talks with Turkey started in October 2005, but have since stalled due to a lack of progress in democratic reforms in the country and wrangling over the 'Cyprus question.'

According to the so-called Ankara Protocol agreement, Turkey is supposed to enforce a customs union with all EU members. But it refuses to do so with the Greek part of Cyprus, which joined the bloc in 2004 after the failure of a reunification plan with the Turkish part of the island.

In response, in 2006 the EU froze eight of the 35 chapters that make up the accession negotiations. But Turkey refuses to budge, claiming that the EU on its part has failed to deliver on its promise to end the economic isolation of the Turkish Cypriots.

Fuele promised that 'as far as the Ankara Protocol is concerned, it will not be business as usual,' vowing to raise the issue in meetings with Turkish officials and to report on it in December.

The Czech diplomat will also conduct negotiations with Western Balkans countries aiming to join the EU. He refused to set dates for their accession, stating that 'the commission does not work on artificially set timetables, but on the merits of each country.'

However, he said he hopes 'to invite new members into our family' during his next five years in office. The most likely candidate is Croatia, who could be ready to join in 2012. Iceland could also become an EU member in the near future.

Fuele's portfolio also includes neighbourhood policy, which covers neighbours in the Southern Mediterranean and Eastern Europe, which Russia's regards as belonging to its own sphere of influence.

The would-commissioner claimed not to see 'a contradiction' between the EU's and Russia's interests in the region, stressing that 'the time of zero-sum games are over.'

He professed 'an open mind' on the possibility that Ukraine might one day ask to join the EU, while he agreed that Russia should, 'as a first step,' let European observers in Georgia enter South Ossetia and Abkhazia, the separatist territories controlled by Moscow.

Fuele also told a hard-left MEP that he 'shared' his 'concerns' about the human rights situation in Israel and Morocco, but claimed that breaking relations with these countries would not be the right answer to address them.