German government will support an EU decision next week on opening a new chapter in Turkey’s EU membership talks, media reported on Sunday.
Chancellor Angela Merkel has agreed with Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle on Germany’s support for the progress in Turkey’s accession talks, Spiegel reported.
EU ministers are set to meet in Luxembourg early this week and Turkey’s EU process is among the key items on the agenda. On Tuesday ministers will discuss determining a date for opening the new policy chapter in Turkey’s membership talks, the Chapter 22 on "Regional Policy."
It would be the first chapter to be opened in three years and has been widely regarded as an important step to revive Turkey’s stalled EU membership process. An agreement for opening the chapter had become far from certain following the outcome of September 22 elections in Germany, but Merkel’s “green light” is highly likely to clear the way for a positive decision.
- German conservatives skeptical on Turkey
German conservatives, who won a resounding victory in the September 22 elections, are opposing a full EU membership perspective to Turkey.
Following the publication of European Commission’s Progress Report on Turkey last week, German conservative member of the European Parliament, (MEP) Markus Feber, told press that the time has come for the EU “to show Turkey the red card”. Feber, who is a member of Christian Social Union (CSU), the sister party of Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU), argued that Turkey has already lost her interest in the EU process and is not a democratic partner.
-German Foreign Ministry supports talks
Despite opposition by some outspoken conservatives, German Foreign Ministry has called for opening new chapters in Turkey’s accession talks.
According to Spiegel, Foreign Ministry’s evaluation ahead of talks in Luxembourg has underlined that Turkey’s recent democratization package “has been the right step in the right direction,” following the developments after Gezi Park protests.
German Foreign Ministry pointed out ongoing discussions on democracy and freedom of expression and further suggested opening new chapters in Turkey’s membership talks which are related to human rights and judiciary.
The EU had initially planned to open Chapter 22 in Turkey’s accession talks in June. But due to the disagreements between Brussels and Ankara in the aftermath of the Gezi Park protests and due to the opposition by Berlin, the final decision has been delayed to October.
EU foreign ministers reached a political agreement on June 25 to open the Chapter 22 but said that they would determine the date for the Inter-Governmental Conference on opening the chapter on October 22, after the presentation of the European Commission's progress report on Turkey and following to review the political situation.
As a candidate country, Turkey has to successfully conclude negotiations in 35 policy chapters, which foresee reforms and adoption of European standards, in various policy areas for its EU membership. Since 2005, Turkey has started negotiations on 13 chapters. No new chapters have been opened in the past three years, mainly due to the Cyprus issue and the blockage by former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who opposed Turkey's EU membership.
