EU-TURKEY JOINT CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE

Transcription

1 REX/ th EU-Turkey JCC Brussels, 24 November 2003 JOINT DECLARATION issued by the two Co-Chairmen Mr Thomas Etty and Mr Hüsamettin Kavi on the occasion of the 16 th meeting of the EU-TURKEY JOINT CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE held in Brussels on 3-4 November 2003 The EU-Turkey Joint Consultative Committee (JCC) is a joint body of representatives of the economic and social interest groups of Turkey and of the EU, the latter members of the European Economic and Social Committee. The JCC held its 16 th meeting in Brussels, on 3-4 November Progress towards accession 1. The JCC welcomed the adoption of the Constitution reforms as well as of seven packages of reforms - especially the last two - and considered that Turkey had already carried out an important part of the legislative reforms needed to comply fully with the Copenhagen political criteria. Further steps, as to be mentioned in paragraph 2 should be taken. The EU should provide the Government of Turkey with an accurate list of indispensable changes to be made before December Furthermore, the JCC is concerned by the difficulties encountered by the Turkish administration and bureaucracy which are hindering the implementation of the legal

2 - 2 - reforms in practice. It hoped that the "Reform Monitoring Group", established by the Government to report about the state of play of the reform achievements, will yield substantial results. 2. The JCC stated that there are still some areas where further progress is needed, such as the strengthening of the independence of the judiciary, lifting of the remaining restrictions on the exercise of fundamental freedoms (among others freedom of expression as well as freedom of association and of collective bargaining), treatment of minorities, including the problems related to the legal status of religious minorities, and the alignment of civil-military relations with EU practices. 3. The JCC expressed its deep concern with respect to the socio-economic situation in the South-East. It welcomed the lifting of the state of emergency there but considered that regional disparities will have to be further tackled. An economic and social strategy is urgently needed to avoid further increasing the development gap between Western and Eastern Anatolia and to provide all citizens with genuine economic and social opportunities. The Government has just started working on this. The JCC will follow the developments with the utmost interest. 4. The JCC requested the European Commission to maintain within the current financial perspective the level of pre-accession financial assistance and to consider Turkey as a priority for foreign aid for the next financial perspective in The JCC pleaded for the establishment of a EU-funded pre-accession programme along the lines of the existing ISPA and SAPARD programme for the other candidate countries in order to allow Turkish agriculture and farmers to be integrated in the common agricultural policy and to promote rural development as well as environmental and transport infrastructure. 5. The JCC welcomed the presentations by Mr Feza Öztürk representing H.E. Mr Mustafa Oguz Demiralp, Head of the Mission of the Republic of Turkey to the EU, and Mr Alessandro Missir di Lusignano, Desk for Turkey, DG Enlargement, European Commission on the latest developments in Turkey and its relations with the EU. It discussed the European Parliament's report on "Turkey's application for membership of the EU" with Mr Arie Oostlander, MEP and author of the report, with special attention to key issues such as the boundaries of Europe, religion, minority rights, the role of the army, as well as equal treatment of Turkey by the EU as compared to other candidate Member States. 6. In the discussion of Parliament's report, furthermore, the following points were made. They will be further elaborated in a joint report on "Turkey on the road to accession", to be discussed by the JCC in its spring 2004 meeting in Turkey. Turkey is a candidate for EU membership just like any other candidate State and accordingly must be treated equally. Religion cannot be a blockade for accession.

3 - 3 - In the field of economic cooperation, Turkey has convincingly proven its value as a partner of the EU in the Customs Union. Taking into account Turkey's definition of minorities, which is based on the Treaty of Lausanne, the problems of the Kurdish citizens of Turkey in the South-East could be addressed in policies allowing for cultural diversity in Turkey, including issues as language. As regards religious minorities, these policies of diversity should also pertain to religion. The EU must prepare itself as much for Turkey's possible accession as Turkey has to prepare its possible accession to the EU. Turkey must make a bigger effort to inform public opinion in the EU of the efforts it is making to meet the Copenhagen political criteria. The EU should contribute to these efforts. The JCC is ready to play its part in this process. The EU should present the Government of Turkey with an accurate list of indispensable changes to be made before December According to the EESC members of the JCC, Turkey's military budget must be brought under control of its Parliament. Only then can transparency and democratic control be guaranteed. The issue of the role of the army in the economic and social life in Turkey will be further discussed by the JCC. 8. Without the framework of its formal meeting the JCC was addressed by the Minister of Finance of Turkey, H.E. Mr Kemal Unakitan, and the Co-Chairman of the Delegation to the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee, Mr Joost Lagendijk, MEP. 9. The co-chairman, Mr Kavi, informed the JCC about the activities of the Economic and Social Council. Having mentioned the earlier deficiencies in the structure and the functioning of the Turkish Economic and Social Council in the period , Mr Kavi stressed the valuable contributions of the JCC in establishing the Turkish ESC and the efforts of the Turkish economic and social organizations to turn it into an influential body in economic and social policy making, like the Economic and Social Councils existing in several EU states. Reports on "Turkey on the road to accession" The JCC members debated reports on "Turkey on the road to accession" prepared by rapporteurs Mr Etty and Mr Uslu. 10. The JCC members insisted that Turkey should meet the same political criteria as other candidate countries before negotiations can be opened and that its performance with a view to fulfilment of these criteria should be measured by the same standards as those used for the other candidates. 11. The JCC underlined the crucial importance at this point of time, of the political criteria. Key points identified in this respect were the treatment of minorities and the role of the

4 - 4 - army in Turkish society, in particular in economic and social life. As regards these points, Turkey has to show credible progress by the end of Obviously, this credibility must be maintained once negotiations will have been started. Concerning the respect for human rights, in particular the right to organize and the right to bargain collectively, as well as of democracy, in particular the contribution which economic and social interest groups and civil society at large can make to the political decision making process, the JCC is of the opinion that violation of these rights must be remedied in the very short run. 12. The JCC specifically called on the Turkish Government to put an end to violations of ILO Conventions 87 and 98 before the end of 2004 and to involve genuinely the Turkish Economic and Social Council in the definition, implementation and assessment of economic and social policy. Also, infringements of the right to organize in NGO's should be stopped forthwith. 13. The JCC acknowledged that Turkey has always shown its close affinity with Europe and that the main objective of the Turkish Government in EU-Turkey relations is the opening of negotiations on the basis of a decision to be taken by the European Council of Ministers in December 2004, and leading eventually to full membership. It reiterated that Turkish civil society is backing Turkey's choice for domestic reforms and EU accession. 14. The JCC discussed several mutual political, economic, social and cultural benefits of EU enlargement with Turkey inclu ding cultural diversity, greater regional stability, further growth and dynamism of the economy, and social development. Report on "Integration of handicapped people in social life" 15. Mr Suleyman Celebi, President of DISK, presented the problems of persons with disabilities in Turkey: social prejudice and discrimination, weak and insufficient social protection, non-implementation of relevant legislation, restricted and unequal access to education, and low levels of employment. He recommended capacity building of disabled people's organizations, campaigns to change people's views about disability, equal access to education, employment, and representation, as well as access to sport activities. 16. The JCC strongly supports these recommendations and encourages the social partners to promote the integration of people with disabilities, in particular on the labour market, through their activities and their collective agreements. The JCC calls on all stakeholders, public and private, local, nationally and in the EU, media, consumer organizations, youth organizations, sport clubs, religious organizations, etc. to improve their services and work for the disabled, in cooperation with organizations representing disabled people, ensuring that disabled persons can fully benefit from them as well as contribute to their activities.

5 being the European year of people with disabilities, Mrs Britta Christina Wahrolin, EESC member and Vice-Chairwoman of the Swedish Disability Federation informed the JCC members about the Swedish organizations and the Swedish Action Plan, the European Disability Forum (EDF), and relevant activities of the European Economic and Social Committee, all three based on mainstreaming and best practice. Mr Daniel Le Scornet, member of the EESC, informed the JCC about the project on capacity building of disabled people's organizations in the ten accession countries, a grant agreement with the European Commission, financed by PHARE and managed by EDF aiming at providing assistance, including specialised training, to organisations of disabled people and national disability councils in accession countries, in order to strengthen their capacity to act. The JCC recommends that the Turkish organizations for disabled people participate in EDF and that Turkey also be included in the capacity building project. 18. The JCC decided to prepare a joint report on this subject for its spring 2004 meeting in Turkey and to explore ways and means to discuss its views and proposals with the Government and Turkish NGO's representing the interests of handicapped people. Participation of Turkish companies to the 6 th EU framework programme for Research & Development 19. Mr Kaser, Scientific Officer/European Commission, informed the JCC about the 6 th framework programme, and more particularly about the instruments available for enhancing competitiveness of SMEs through cooperative and collective research, in the framework of the Lisbon strategy. 20. Mr Yorganci, Director of TuR & Bo, (Turkish Research and Business Organisations Public Private Partnership), presented his organization and its efforts to coordinate information, training, advising, networking, promotion of Turkish Research and Development to participate in the 6 th EU framework programme for R&D, the problems encountered, and its achievements. 21. The JCC welcomed Turkey's full participation in the 6 th EU framework programme for R&D and the activities of TURBO. It looked forward to the establishment of cooperation between Turkish enterprises and universities, as well as with their counterparts in the EU. The JCC calls on the European Commission to duly support Turkey's efforts within the 6 th EU framework programme and facilitate free mobility of Turkish researchers

6 - 6 - Next meeting new work 22. The members of the JCC decided that the 17 th meeting of the EU-Turkey JCC will be held in Turkey on May 2004, and that it would discuss, among others, reports on: "Turkey on the road to accession", "Integration of handicapped people in economic and social life", "Small and Medium Enterprises", and if its Contact Group will decide so "Consumers interests". DI CESE 125/2003 EN/o