The EU is hoping that the opening of the new chapters will give Ankara the political motivation to heed European calls to pick up the pace on reform.

"The European perspective of Turkey has proven to be a key incentive for the reforms in the country," EU enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn told MEPs last month.

An EU progress report on Turkey released on 6 November cited persisting shortcomings in the country in the area of freedom of expression, the civilian control of the military, and the rights of non-Muslim communities.

It also criticised the lack of progress concerning the "normalisation" of bilateral relations with Cyprus.

In 2006, the EU suspended eight chapters of Turkey's 35-chapter EU negotiations package, in order to sanction Ankara's continuing blockade on traffic from EU member Cyprus - which is illegal under an EU-Turkey customs agreement.

On Tuesday, Mr Rehn "reiterated the importance" of Turkey meeting its obligations on this point and expressed the commission's "support for beginning serious negotiations on a comprehensive settlement on the Cyprus problem under the auspices of the United Nations".

The decision to press ahead wih opening the two new chapters also comes despite France's insistence that such a move should not be taken before a 'wise committee' has been set up to discuss the future of the European Union.

Asked to comment on the French position and on how it could impede the process, Mr Almado remained optimistic saying that "the EU is a very dynamic entity (...) The European Union is adapting and is moving and has a very peculiar dynamic".

In addition, the opening of the chapters would take place only a few days after a meeting of EU leaders in Brussels, which will be an opportunity for the French stance to be discussed, the Portuguese minister said.

For his part, Turkish foreign minister Ali Babacan underlined that "political issues should not put an obstacle before our accession process and our EU friends should do their best in order to prevent this".

The chapters, which are technically ready, should be opened without delay and "not be subject to any discrimination", he added.

"Those discussions are much more important than the political choices of certain countries and we believe that the political agenda globally is much more important than short-term political interests."