Thursday

28th Mar 2024

High stakes for Turkey and Macedonia in EU reports

The European Commission will on Wednesday (9 November) issue a bushel of reports on EU candidate states and Western Balkan hopefuls, with most at stake for Turkey and Macedonia.

Turkey will witness the publication of what is expected to be a highly critical account of its human rights situation in the yearly Brussels "progress report" accompanied by a reviewed medium-term "accession partnership" document.

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 is set to hear clear words on human rights (Photo: European Commission)

The commission, which was careful not to let human rights rows interfere with the opening of accession talks with Ankara on 3 October, is now set to speak clearly to the Turks.

One issue that is likely to figure in the report is the Pamuk affair, which enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn has on several occasions termed a "provocation".

The affair concerns a Turkish author who was charged by Turkish prosecutors for having mentioned the 1915 Armenian genocide in a newspaper interview.

Brussels is further set to tell Turkey that it must stop torture, allow freedom of worship and limit the powers of the military in the next two years if it is to join the EU by 2015.

The other official candidate state which got the green light from Brussels to open talks on 3 October, Croatia, will also see a progress report, with one concern for Brussels being high corruption in the country.

Co-operation by the Croatians with the UN's international war crimes tribunal is also likely to figure in the reports.

D-day for Macedonia?

For Macedonia, tomorrow could be D-Day, with media reports speculating that the country might get Brussels' nod for an official candidate status before the end of the year.

Greece objects to the "Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" carrying the name "Macedonia" but Greek officials have signalled that it will not veto rapid candidate status for the country.

Meanwhile, Bosnia, Serbia and Montenegro will receive their first Brussels judgement on their reform records after entering into preliminary "Stabilisation and Association Agreement" (SAA) negotiations with Brussels, a status preceding any official membership talks.

Both countries recently received the go-ahead from EU leaders to start the talks, with Belgrade starting the first round of talks on Monday (7 November).

Albania has already been conducting SAA talks since February 2003, but progress has lagged, with organised crime, human trafficking, money laundering and corruption impeding the conclusion of an SAA deal.

Strategy paper

Along with the bulk of country reports, Brussels will also issue its annual general enlargement strategy paper.

A commission source said the paper is set to highlight "consolidation, conditionality and communication" mentioned earlier by enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn.

Referring to "consolidation" Mr Rehn said in a July speech that the concerns of Europeans who believe that enlargement is moving too fast should be taken into account.

The commission should move away from regarding enlargement as a purely technical matter while improving communication, he added.

"Conditionality" in Mr Rehn's view means a strict application of EU membership conditions.

The commission in October threatened to delay Romania and Bulgaria`s entry date because of insufficient fulfilment of conditions.

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