Speech from Mr Hans-Gert Poettering,
Chairman of the EPP-ED Group,
in the European Parliament
on Thursday, 6 October 2004

Turkey - Hans-Gert Poettering on the Commission report



"As in all the political groups, my Group has very many different views concerning Turkey. What I am telling you now is supported by the vast majority of my Group. If Turkey were to join the Union it would be a very different European Union. There are 70 million people in Turkey, perhaps 90 million by 2010, geographically the EU would be different too, it would go deep into Asia. Culturally it would be different and in terms of standard of living of people it would be very different too. We all need to be aware of this.

"Secondly, I am turning to you Commissioner Verheugen, I have great admiration for the way you conducted the negotiations with the central and eastern European countries, I have noticed in the past few weeks that you have constantly been saying that there is no systematic torture in Turkey. This is a cynical way of describing what goes on in Turkey. I think it is the biggest nonsense that we have heard in 2004. The Commission is supposed to be the guardian of the treaties, and as guardian of the treaties the Commission is responsible for human rights. We need to make sure that the legal situation in Turkey reflects the actual situation in Turkish jails. What you need to say is that torture in Turkish prisons must stop and those responsible must be brought to justice.

"Coming to my principal point, you said that your decision was the outcome of consensus in the Commission. If in December the Heads of State and Government decide to open negotiations with Turkey then the EPP-ED Group insists that those negotiations must be open-ended. For us open-endedness means that negotiations can lead to membership but they can also lead to non-membership. If you are unhappy with the idea of non-membership then you have to include a different formula, another form of co-operation. We call this a privileged partnership. A privileged partnership would be a way of demonstrating that we want to work together with Turkey in partnership and friendship. I urge you to explain in more detail what the outcome of the consensus was that you described. We take this issue of Turkey in the EU very seriously, we do not want to hush anything up, because as far as my Group is concerned the future of the EU as a peaceful Community is at stake. What we need is that for the negotiations, whatever their outcome, what we need is for the European Union to be maintained as the greatest peace project of the 20th and 21st Century which does not rule out a relationship and partnership with Turkey. We in the EPP-ED are a very large party family and we insist on a clear definition of the open-endedness of negotiations. There must be at least three options: membership, non-membership, and possibly another form of co-operation; privileged partnership.

"With all due respect to the Turkish government, I sincerely hope that it will succeed in leading Turkey towards Europe and adopting European values. Many Europeans say that whether Turkey is in or out of the Union, people hope that Turkey will continue to follow down the European path. I don't think we should underestimate the Turks, I am sure they are willing to accept and adopt European values. We wish the Turkish government and population every success in this enterprise."

(Translation from the original German)