The EU Foreign Ministers to discuss the state of play with regard to Turkey
Government Communications Unit
Ministry for Foreign Affairs
Press Release 299/2005
30 September 2005
The EU General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC) will meet in Luxembourg on 3 October. The main theme of the meeting will be the opening of accession negotiations with Turkey. Minister for Foreign Affairs, Erkki Tuomioja, will represent Finland at the meeting.
Before the Council meeting, on Sunday, 2 October, the Foreign Ministers will meet for a dinner to agree on the negotiation framework for Turkey’s accession negotiations which the Council has to adopt prior to the opening of the accession negotiations. Turkey has fulfilled the conditions set for the opening of accession negotiations and the premise is that the negotiations will be opened in connection with the Council meeting on 3 October in line with the agreed timetable. Finland considers that the opening of the negotiations will be an important step in Turkey’s membership process. The Helsinki European Council granted Turkey candidate country status during Finland’s EU Presidency in 1999.
As regards enlargement, the Council will also discuss the opening of accession negotiations with Croatia. The opening of the accession talks was postponed as of March 2005 as Croatia’s cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, ICTY, was not considered sufficient. Finland\'s opinion is that accession talks should not be opened before there is full cooperation with ICTY. It is imperative to enhance the credibility of this condition. Evaluations concerning Croatia’s cooperation must be based on ICTY’s assessments.
The Council will prepare the EU-Russia Summit that will take place in London on Tuesday 4 October. The summit will focus on the implementation of the roadmaps of the so-called common spaces under the EU-Russia cooperation procedures. One of the main aims is to conclude agreements on visa facilitation and readmission. Finland considers it particularly encouraging that Northern Dimension will be on the summit agenda and that the summit will aim to seek for a positive input from Russia with regard to the organisation of the meeting of the Permanent Partnership Council (PPC) with special focus on the environment in 2006.
The General Affairs and External Relations Council will also discuss the Western Balkans and the situation in the Middle East. The Council will also consider the situation in Iran after the meeting of the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency that was brought to a conclusion on 24 September. The Council will discuss the situation in Uzbekistan and the recommendations for action that Jan Kubis, the EU’s Special Representative to Central Asia, put forward in his report. The EU has underlined that it considers it necessary to establish an international group to investigate the unrest in Andizhan earlier this year.
Further information: Jari Luoto, State Under-Secretary for EU Affairs, Government Secretariat for EU Affairs, tel. +358 9 1602 2182 and Anne Huhtamäki, Counsellor, Department for Europe, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, tel. +358 9 1605 6097