October 5, 2009As the only member of the 27-nation European bloc constitutionally obliged to hold a referendum, the voters of Ireland were in a make-or-break position.
The approval of the Lisbon Treaty will also open the doors for further expansion. Already, Croatia and Serbia are laying the groundwork to meet the necessary legislative, judicial and financial thresholds for membership, with Croatia possibly joining the bloc by 2011.
While allowing access to western Balkan nations is a positive step, the European Union as a whole must move swiftly on one application that has lingered far too long on desks in Brussels - that of Turkey.
Considering that the governance methodology of the EU is now set, it's time to bring Turkey into the fold. Sooner, not later.
Turkish foreign minister: Turkey will strengthen EU
Stockholm - Turkey will strengthen the European Union even if the road to future membership in the bloc is “long and stony,” Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu
said Saturday.
The country is undergoing a “silent revolution” and carrying through reforms that “were unthinkable just a few years ago,” he wrote in an op-ed article in the Stockholm daily Dagens Nyheter.
Turkey aimed to become one of the world’s 10 largest economies and become “indispensable” for the EU’s economic force, he said.
The Turkish foreign minister was Saturday to take part at an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers hosted by Sweden, the current holder of the rotating EU presidency.
Davutoglu said Turkey was continuing to fulfill its obligations under the so-called Copenhagen criteria (see below), which call for stable democratic institutions, respect for human rights and protection of minorities.
”Just as we are preparing the ground for membership, the EU has to keep to its side of the bargain,” he said. “First and foremost the union has to show the necessary leadership to inform public opinion against the disinformation concerning Turkey’s membership,” he said.
”Negative voices that we still hear from certain countries in the EU just spread discontent among our citizens and hamper our efforts to continue our reforms,” Davutoglu said.
Germany and France have been among the most outspoken opponents of full-fledged EU membership for Turkey.
But Davutoglu said his country had found a strong supporter in Sweden, which has an influential voice as the bloc’s current chair.
“Sweden realizes, as we do, that Europe can never be a strong cohesive unity as long as Turkey remains outside the EU,” the foreign minister said.
Cyprus - divided since a Turkish invasion in 1974 sparked by a brief Greek-inspired coup - “should not under any circumstances be used as chip in the negotations for Turkey’s membership in the EU,” he said.
ACCSESSION CRITERIA
In 1993, at the Copenhagen European Council, the Union took a decisive step towards the fifth enlargement, agreeing that “the associated countries in Central and Eastern Europe that so desire shall become members of the European Union.”
Thus, enlargement was no longer a question of ‘if’, but ‘when’. Concerning the timing, the European Council states: “Accession will take place as soon as an associated country is able to assume the obligations of membership by satisfying the economic and political conditions required.” At the same time, it defined the membership criteria, which are often referred to as the ‘Copenhagen criteria’.
COPENHAGEN EUROPEAN COUNCIL
Membership criteria require that the candidate country must have achieved
*stability of institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for and protection of minorities;
*the existence of a functioning market economy as well as the capacity to cope with competitive pressure and market forces within the Union;
*the ability to take on the obligations of membership including adherence to the aims of political, economic & monetary union.
MADRID EUROPEAN COUNCIL
Membership criteria also require that the candidate country must have created the conditions for its integration through the adjustment of its administrative structures, as underlined by the Madrid European Council in December 1995. While it is important that European Community legislation is transposed into national legislation, it is even more important that the legislation is implemented effectively through appropriate administrative and judicial structures. This is a prerequisite of the mutual trust required by EU membership.
