Vol. 477 No. 6
37 Mr. Power asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will make a statement on the recent meeting of EU Foreign Ministers held in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands, particularly in relation to the application by Turkey to become a full member of the EU. [10100/97]
Foreign Ministers from each of the member states of the European Union, with a representative of the European Commission, traditionally hold an informal meeting — the so called Gymnich-type meeting — during each Presidency. During the Irish Presidency, I hosted such a meeting in Tralee. These meetings are intended to allow for a more free-ranging discussion than is possible during the more formal sessions of the General Affairs Council. I should stress that no formal decisions are taken or conclusions reached at such meetings.
In the case of the informal meeting arranged by the Dutch Presidency on 15 to 16 March 1997 in Apeldoorn, a number of current topics were chosen for discussion, such as Albania and Zaire — on which Presidency declarations were subsequently issued — and EU enlargement.
In this context, relations between the EU and Turkey were the subject of discussion by Ministers. It was agreed that the Presidency would pursue efforts to improve and develop relations between the Union and Turkey in the framework of the Customs Union. Following the meeting, the Presidency indicated that discussion by Ministers had confirmed that the perspectives set out in the Association Agreement of 1963 and the Commission Avis of 1989 in respect of Turkey's application for EU membership remained valid.
