EUobserver.com

If it remains fully committed to the reform path, Turkey could join the European Union in 10 to 15 years, EU enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn has said.

He has also announced that two more chapters out of the 35-chapter accession package - business law and intellectual property - are likely to be opened as early as June, increasing the total number to eight.

Additional chapters, including the one on energy, could follow under the French EU presidency in the second half of this year.

The message comes at a time described by commissioner Rehn as "a more critical phase than at any time since its negotiations to join the EU in 2005 began."

Speaking to German daily Die Welt, he said: "It is important that the EU show it is committed to Turkey's membership in difficult times."

Turkey's constitutional court is currently looking into a case aimed at shutting down the ruling centre-right Justice and Development Party (AK Party), accused by prosecutors of harbouring a hidden agenda to build an Islamist state.

But the EU is critical of the move. A ban of the AK Party would harm the reform process, the Finnish commissioner said.

Mr Rehn also urged Ankara to "stay convincingly on its reform course", singling out freedom of speech, women's rights and expanded rights for minorities.

Meanwhile, Austria reiterated on Monday (21 April) its position that the accession talks between the EU and Turkey do not have to result in full membership.

"We are aware that for the Turkish side, the one and only exclusive goal is membership in the European Union," Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik said on her visit to Ankara, adding: "I could imagine a tailor-made Turkey-European Union community as another rational, realistic alternative."

A similar view, often also described as a privileged partnership, is favoured by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Turkey may be fit for EU in a decade, enlargement chief says