The EU's annual report on Turkey's membership bid has praised Ankara for its reform and foreign policy initiatives. But this is being met with little enthusiasm in Turkey as doubts over its bid continue to grow. The European Commission's annual progress report on Turkey's bid to join the European Union will have been welcome reading for the Turkish government. It was largely positive, stressing important steps on reforms to improve freedom of expression, efforts to resolve the conflict with Kurdish rebels and significant diplomatic initiatives, like improving relations with Armenia. Brussels did voice concerns about press freedom in relation to a multi-billion-euro tax-evasion case against media group Dogan Media Holding, a vocal critic of the current government. Even so, Ergemen Bagis, the cabinet minister responsible for Turkey's bid to join the EU, welcomed the report's largely positive findings. "EU membership is one of the basic goals of our government," Bagis said. "We will continue our efforts with great determination and will work hard to get a more positive report next year."
The European Commission's annual progress report on Turkey's bid to join the European Union will have been welcome reading for the Turkish government. It was largely positive, stressing important steps on reforms to improve freedom of expression, efforts to resolve the conflict with Kurdish rebels and significant diplomatic initiatives, like improving relations with Armenia.
Brussels did voice concerns about press freedom in relation to a multi-billion-euro tax-evasion case against media group Dogan Media Holding, a vocal critic of the current government.
Even so, Ergemen Bagis, the cabinet minister responsible for Turkey's bid to join the EU, welcomed the report's largely positive findings.
"EU membership is one of the basic goals of our government," Bagis said. "We will continue our efforts with great determination and will work hard to get a more positive report next year."
As the political situation on its periphery evolves, the EU needs to clearly define its borders, argues geopolitician Michel Foucher in Le Monde, especially in regard to Turkish accession, on which the Commission is publishing its annual report today. Up to 2004-2007, the implicit mental map upon which the EU's ultimate borders were to be traced was actually an open secret, though not up for debate. It was taken for granted in Brussels and in most country capitals that the territorial expansion of the Union should continue until it covers the whole continent, bar Russia. But for this exception, in other words, the EU territory should eventually coincide with that of the Council of Europe, the only European institution to have explicitly defined its perimeter, back in 1994. This scenario of maximum enlargement expresses the vision of an organised Europe nurtured by successive administrations in the US, and the continuity of America's European project is indeed remarkable, from Bill Clinton to Barack Obama, who, in this regard, confirmed in his Ankara address the stance previously taken by George W. Bush.
As the political situation on its periphery evolves, the EU needs to clearly define its borders, argues geopolitician Michel Foucher in Le Monde, especially in regard to Turkish accession, on which the Commission is publishing its annual report today.
Up to 2004-2007, the implicit mental map upon which the EU's ultimate borders were to be traced was actually an open secret, though not up for debate. It was taken for granted in Brussels and in most country capitals that the territorial expansion of the Union should continue until it covers the whole continent, bar Russia. But for this exception, in other words, the EU territory should eventually coincide with that of the Council of Europe, the only European institution to have explicitly defined its perimeter, back in 1994.
This scenario of maximum enlargement expresses the vision of an organised Europe nurtured by successive administrations in the US, and the continuity of America's European project is indeed remarkable, from Bill Clinton to Barack Obama, who, in this regard, confirmed in his Ankara address the stance previously taken by George W. Bush.
the EU needs to clearly define its borders
What for? That was not at all clear to me from the article...
I wonder how Emmanuel Todd would react to this. (Todd claimed that the notion that 'we have to draw a line' in a continuum is central to Anglo-Saxon thinking and comes from inheritance customs, while it isn't present in French/Romanesque thinking, also due to inheritance customs.) *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
the EU needs to clearly define its borders What for?
What for?
Council of Europe - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Article 4 of the Council of Europe Statute specifies that membership is open to any "European" State. This has been interpreted liberally from the beginning (when Turkey was admitted) to include any Eurasian state with a toe-hold in Europe. As a result, nearly all European states have acceded to the Council of Europe, with the exception of Belarus (human rights concerns) and Kazakhstan (human rights concerns) as well as Kosovo which is not considered an independent state by some Council of Europe member states.
Article 4 of the Council of Europe Statute specifies that membership is open to any "European" State. This has been interpreted liberally from the beginning (when Turkey was admitted) to include any Eurasian state with a toe-hold in Europe.
As a result, nearly all European states have acceded to the Council of Europe, with the exception of Belarus (human rights concerns) and Kazakhstan (human rights concerns) as well as Kosovo which is not considered an independent state by some Council of Europe member states.
the continuity of America's European project is indeed remarkable, from Bill Clinton to Barack Obama
In American foreign-policy thinking the most widespread argument for pushing the EU to accept Turkey into its arms is the supposed transformational power of the decision. By taking up a Muslim, second world country the EU is supposed to show the world that the cultural and economic standards of what we still call the west are open to everyone. This is one of the few really bipartisan foreign-policy ideas, supported by Clinton as well as by both Bush 41 and 43. The view was repeated in recent comments by US undersecretary of State Nicolas Burns:"Historians will say it is one of these important decisions the Europeans made ... at the beginning of the 21st century, to open the EU up to this major Muslim secular democracy"In the EU, we should be extremely careful about this kind of view, because in a way, it asks us to embrace Turkey precisely because of the aspects that separate us. We will be ill-served by this kind of enlightened idealism when we want to work on the things that unite the EU, like respect for diversity, human rights, international law and a dynamic economic system that rewards all people's efforts. Turkey still has some way to go on all of these. The potential reward of welcoming Turkey is also belied by the more detailed cleavages that exist in the Middle East. Turkey's neigbours are Arabs - who dislike Turkey for having been an occupying country and not being or speaking Arab; Iranians, who are of a different Islamic denomination; Armenians, who are Christian and have some old issues with Turkey, and Georgians who are also Christian. Turkish entry into the EU could well serve to enlarge instead of bridge these cleavages, especially those with the Arab world.
"Historians will say it is one of these important decisions the Europeans made ... at the beginning of the 21st century, to open the EU up to this major Muslim secular democracy"
The potential reward of welcoming Turkey is also belied by the more detailed cleavages that exist in the Middle East. Turkey's neigbours are Arabs - who dislike Turkey for having been an occupying country and not being or speaking Arab; Iranians, who are of a different Islamic denomination; Armenians, who are Christian and have some old issues with Turkey, and Georgians who are also Christian. Turkish entry into the EU could well serve to enlarge instead of bridge these cleavages, especially those with the Arab world.
Germany's new government will not slam the door on Turkey's EU membership bid, according to sources close to the coalition talks. However, Turkey is still a long way from meeting the EU's criteria for entry. Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democrats and the pro-business Free Democrats agreed "unanimously" to stick with the last government's position on Turkey's EU membership bid, sources from both parties told AFP on Thursday. The previous coalition of the Christian Democrats with the center-left Social Democrats had called the negotiations an "open-ended process" with no guarantee of membership. The deal between the parties is expected be worded in a similar fashion to Merkel's 2005 coalition agreement. In that document, the parties said "if the EU is not in a position to take on new members or Turkey cannot fully meet all the criteria necessary for membership, Turkey must be bound closely to European structures in a way that allows its privileged relationship with the EU to develop further."
Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democrats and the pro-business Free Democrats agreed "unanimously" to stick with the last government's position on Turkey's EU membership bid, sources from both parties told AFP on Thursday.
The previous coalition of the Christian Democrats with the center-left Social Democrats had called the negotiations an "open-ended process" with no guarantee of membership.
The deal between the parties is expected be worded in a similar fashion to Merkel's 2005 coalition agreement.
In that document, the parties said "if the EU is not in a position to take on new members or Turkey cannot fully meet all the criteria necessary for membership, Turkey must be bound closely to European structures in a way that allows its privileged relationship with the EU to develop further."
