tents
were moreorless similar to former packages which the EU promised but
failed to deliver in the past. Moreover, the ambiguity over how this
package would be financed prevented Turkey from being optimistic about
its chances of being put into effect soon. The Commission itself
conceded that the implementation of this package would require
considerable financial resources. The summit
meeting held in Cardiff on 1516 June 1998 offered a good opportunity to
rectify the unwarranted difficult period which TurkeyEU relations
entered into following the Luxembourg Summit. Although certain positive
developments were achieved with regard to the language used for Turkey
in the Presidency Conclusions of the Summit, they were not sufficient
for Turkey to modify its policy outlined after the Luxembourg Summit.
An important result of the Cardiff Summit for TurkeyEU relations was
the EU leaders' endorsement of the Commission's "European Strategy" for
Turkey and the request made to the Commission to find solutions with a
view to making available the financial resources required for the
implementation of the "European Strategy". In
fact, the Strategy did not contain new elements. Most of the proposals
made in it reiterated commitments contained in earlier agreements which
had not been fulfilled over the years. Moreover, the implementation of
the Strategy as the basis for the development of Turkey's relations
with the EU was hintered by the lack of financial ressources and a
proper perspective for Turkey's accession.
At the Cologne European Council held on 34
June 1999, the initiative was taken by the German Presidency with a
view to ensuring the recognition of Turkey's candidate status on an
equal footing with the others. Compared to the previous
Government in Germany, the new Coalition Government which came to power
in October 1998 seemed to have taken a more positive line regarding
Turkey's quest for EU membership. However, the objections of some EU
Member States prevented this initiative from being realised. As a
consequence, the EU refrained from taking a decision to include Turkey
in the accession process. This constituted yet another failure of the
EU to recognise Turkey's candidate status clearly and unambiguously.
The EU Foreign Ministers, at their Gymnichtype
meeting on 4 and 5 September in Saariselka, in Finland, held
discussions on aid to Turkey following the earthquake in northwestern
part of Turkey in August 1999 and on future relations between Turkey
and the Union. At this meeting, consensus was reached for a new
humanitarian aid package of 30 million Euros in addition to the two
emergency humanitarian aid packages of 2 million euros each that had
been granted to Turkey in the week following the earthquake. On the
other hand, no agreement was reached at Saariselka on Turkey's
candidate status. In the meantime, the
European Investment Bank decided to launch a loan of 500600 million
Euro to help Turkey tackle the consequences of the earthquake and the
European Commission put forward the proposal to allocate to Turkey a
"substantial part" of the resources of the MEDA II programme for the
20002007 period. In preparation for the
European Council to be held in Helsinki in 1011 December 1999, the
Commission issued its second regular Report on the progress of Turkey
towards accession on 13 October 1999. In the Composite Paper which was
presented together with the Progress Report, the Commission took
important steps by proposing that Turkey be considered as a candidate
country and backed this with concrete actions similar to those provided
for the other candidates. Turkey welcomed these proposals that would
prepare her for full membership to the EU. In the Statement made by the
Turkish Foreign Minister, it was declared that the endorsement of all
these Commission proposals at the Helsinki European Council, in other
words, Turkey's recognition as an official candidate with all its
inherent modalities, would initiate a new phase in TurkeyEU relations.
The Helsinki European Council held on 1011
December 1999 produced a breakthrough in TurkeyEU relations. At
Helsinki, Turkey was officially recognised without any precondition as
a candidate state on an equal footing with the other candidate states.
While recognising Turkey's candidate status, the Helsinki Summit
Conclusions endorsed the proposals of the Commission made on 13 October
1999. Thus, Turkey, like other candidate states, would reap the
benefits from a preaccession strategy to stimulate and support its
reforms. This would also include an Accession Partnership, which would
be dawn up accordingly, combined with a National Program for the
adoption of the acquis. Turkey would participate in Community programs
open to other candidate countries and agencies and would be invited to
the meetings between candidate states and the Union in the context of
the accession process. Finally, a single framework for coordinating all
sources of EU financial assistance for preaccession would be created.
The National Program As foreseen in the Helsinki European
Council conclusions, the EU Commission started to prepare an Accession
Partnership for Turkey, which was adopted on 8 March 2001. After the
approval of the Accession Partnership by the EU, the Turkish Government
announced its own National Program for the Adoption of the EU acquis on
19 March 2001. The National Program was submitted to the EU Commission
on 26 March 2001. The National Program was produced with a careful
appreciation of the short and medium term priorities as spelled out in
the Accession Partnership. Following
these important developments, the TurkeyEU Association Council began to
meet regularly. The Association Council met three times in the 20002002
period. At its meeting of 11 April 2000, 8 subcommittees were
established to carry out an analytical examination of the level of
harmonization of the Turkish legislation with the acquis communautaire.
In the subsequent meetings, progress achieved within the framework of
Turkey's preaccession strategy was evaluated and a number of decisions
were taken, concerning Turkey's participation in Community programs,
providing Turkey with full access to TAIEX offices and the
establishment of joint consultation mechanisms that will convene
regularly in order to discuss trade matters related to the Customs
Union. Progress towards accession continues
along the path set by the National Program revised in 2003. The most
pressing aim here is the opening of accession negotiations, which
depends on the fulfillment of the Copenhagen political criteria. Within
the past three years, Turkey took a number of important steps towards
this end. The most important among these is the
major review of the Constitution. Thirtyfour Articles of the Turkish
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