Thursday

28th Mar 2024

Emergency meeting on Turkey scheduled

The UK presidency on Thursday announced an emergency meeting of foreign ministers on Turkey's EU membership bid. The meeting is to be held on Sunday - the day before entry talks with Turkey are scheduled to start.

Talks at the ambassadorial level broke down on Thursday (29 October), as Austria continues to block the framework for membership negotiations with Turkey.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

  • Turkey - Austria wants the word "accession" to be scrapped from the first paragraph of the negotiating text (Photo: European Commission)

The UK presidency has now told foreign ministers to be ready to jet to Luxembourg on Sunday evening - before the official ministers meeting on Monday (3 October) which is supposed to greenlight the start of the accession negotiations.

Austria demands that the first and crucial paragraph of the negotiating framework, setting out the principles of the EU talks with Turkey, be substantially altered - changing the aim of the talks from full membership to a completely open-ended scenario.

This reflects Vienna's rejection of full membership for Turkey, instead preferring a loose partnership with Ankara.

The Austrians have demanded the word "accession" to be scrapped altogether from the first paragraph, and the words "possible alternative bond" inserted elsewhere in the paragraph.

European diplomats commented that the deleting of the word "accession" is impossible, as this would be in breach of the EU leaders' own conclusions last December - stating that the goal of the talks is accession.

On top if this, Turkey has repeatedly said it will walk away from the talks if it gets offered anything less than full accession.

But diplomats also said there is room for manoeuvre for a compromise with the Austrians.

"We might see an additional few words which further stress the open ended nature of the talks, without deleting the word accession", one diplomat said.

He added: "It is unlikely that the Austrians will really veto the opening of accession negotiations with Turkey".

Room for manoeuvre on Croatia

One other possible way for the UK presidency to accommodate the Austrians is to grant concessions on Croatia's EU membership bid, which Austria wants to push through.

The EU recently blocked the start of entry talks with Zagreb following what it considers to be unsatisfactory co-operation with the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague.

Before the foreign ministers' meeting on Turkey on Monday, the EU's Task Force on Croatia will meet with UN chief prosecutor Carla del Ponte who will brief it on progress by Zagreb locating the war crimes suspect general Gotovina.

The EU task force notably also comprises the foreign ministers of the current and upcoming EU presidencies - the UK and Austria.

The European Commission has said it will recommend the opening of talks with Croatia "immediately" once Ms Del Ponte reports "full co-operation" with the UN court.

But one diplomatic source said that even in the case of limited progress by Zagreb, a compromise gesture towards the Austrians could be possible in the form of "a decision to take a decision soon".

However, around 12 member states are said to be reluctant to be too lenient on the Croatians, as this would send a wrong message to countries such as Serbia, allegedly also obstructing the capture of war crimes suspects by the Hague UN Court.

One diplomat said: "If we slip now, we will never see Mr [Radko] Mladic in The Hague".

Ukraine slams grain trade restrictions at EU summit

Restrictions on Ukrainian agricultural exports to the EU could translate into military losses in their bid to stop Russia's war, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky warned EU leaders during their summit in Brussels on Thursday.

Difficult talks ahead on financing new EU defence spending

With the war in Ukraine showing no signs of ending any time soon, EU leaders will meet in Brussels on Thursday and Friday (21 and 22 March) to discuss how to boost the defence capabilities of Ukraine and of the bloc itself.

Opinion

Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Rather than assuming a pro-European Labour government in London will automatically open doors in Brussels, the Labour party needs to consider what it may be able to offer to incentivise EU leaders to factor the UK into their defence thinking.

Latest News

  1. Kenyan traders react angrily to proposed EU clothes ban
  2. Lawyer suing Frontex takes aim at 'antagonistic' judges
  3. Orban's Fidesz faces low-polling jitters ahead of EU election
  4. German bank freezes account of Jewish peace group
  5. EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania
  6. 'Swiftly dial back' interest rates, ECB told
  7. Moscow's terror attack, security and Gaza
  8. Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  2. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries
  3. European Citizen's InitiativeThe European Commission launches the ‘ImagineEU’ competition for secondary school students in the EU.
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  5. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  6. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us