Fergus O'Dowd
Ceist:70 Mr. O'Dowd asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will make a statement on the position regarding applications to join the European Union from Croatia and Turkey. [26820/03]
Written Answers. - EU Membership.
Croatia presented its application for membership of the EU on 20 February 2003. At its meeting on 14 April 2003, the General Affairs and External Relations Council asked the Commission to prepare a formal opinion on the application, as required under Article 49 of the Treaty on European Union. The Commission expects to deliver its opinion next spring, during Ireland's EU Presidency. The Government has welcomed the Croatian application and Ireland as Presidency will facilitate consideration by the Council of the Commission opinion.
Croatia's application will be assessed on the basis of the Copenhagen political criteria for candidate states and in the context of the implementation of commitments under the stabilisation and association agreement concluded with the EU in 2001. The political criteria laid down by the Copenhagen European Council in 1993 stipulate that a candidate country must achieve stability of institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for and protection of minorities. Issues of particular importance in Croatia's case will be progress in the wide-ranging institutional reform process, the implementation of measures to enable the return of refugees from the conflicts of the 1990s, and the level of co-operation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
The Helsinki European Council in December 1999 decided that Turkey is a candidate country destined to join the European Union on the basis of the political criteria which apply to all candidate countries. The European Council last December made the clear commitment that if the European Council meeting in December 2004 decides that Turkey has fulfilled the Copenhagen political criteria, the EU will open accession negotiations without delay. This decision will be taken on the basis of a report and recommendation by the Commission.
On 5 November, the Commission published its regular report for 2003 on Turkey's progress towards accession. It concluded that, by accelerating the pace of reforms over the past year, Turkey has made determined efforts and significant progress towards achieving compliance with the Copenhagen criteria but that a clear framework for guaranteeing political, civil, economic, social and cultural rights is not fully established, and more efforts are needed to enhance the coherence of legal provisions and practice.
The report also recalled the importance which successive European Councils have attached to agreement on a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus question, on the basis of the proposals presented by the UN Secretary General, in time to enable the accession of a united Cyprus on 1 May 2004. It noted that the absence of a settlement could become a serious obstacle to Turkey's EU aspirations.
I have welcomed the substantial progress made by Turkey in legislating for widespread human rights reforms over the past two years. A central element in the assessment to be made by the European Council in December 2004 will be the effective implementation at all levels of these legislative reforms. The EU will work closely with Turkey in the months ahead, and throughout Ireland's Presidency, through the revised accession partnership adopted by the Council in April 2003, which sets out the priorities Turkey should pursue towards fulfilment of the Copenhagen criteria.