2003
Regular Report
on
Turkey’s
progress towards accession
A.Introduction......
1.Preface......
2.Relations between the EU and Turkey......
Recent developments under the Association Agreement, including bilateral trade......
Community assistance......
Detailed legislative scrutiny......
Twinning......
B.Criteria for membership......
1.Enhanced political dialogue and political criteria......
1.1Recent developments......
1.2Democracy and the rule of law......
The parliament......
The executive......
National Security Council......
The judicial system......
Anti-corruption measures......
1.3Human rights and the protection of minorities......
Civil and political rights......
Economic, social and cultural rights......
Minority rights and the protection of minorities......
1.4Cyprus......
1.5Peaceful settlement of border disputes......
1.6General evaluation......
2.Economic criteria......
2.1Introduction......
2.2Economic developments......
2.3Assessment in terms of the Copenhagen criteria......
2.4General evaluation......
3.Ability to assume the obligations of membership......
3.1Chapters of the acquis......
Chapter 1: Free movement of goods......
Chapter 2: Free movement of persons......
Chapter 3: Freedom to provide services......
Chapter 4: Free movement of capital......
Chapter 5: Company law......
Chapter 6: Competition Policy......
Chapter 7: Agriculture......
Chapter 8: Fisheries......
Chapter 9: Transport......
Chapter 10: Taxation......
Chapter 11: Economic and Monetary Union......
.Chapter 12: Statistics......
Chapter 13: Social Policy and Employment......
Chapter 14: Energy......
Chapter 15: Industrial policy......
Chapter 16: Small and Medium-sized Enterprises......
Chapter 17: Science and research......
Chapter 18: Education and training......
Chapter 19: Telecommunications and information technology......
Chapter 20: Culture and audio-visual policy......
Chapter 21: Regional Policy and co-ordination of structural instruments......
Chapter 22: Environment......
Chapter 23: Consumer and health protection......
Chapter 24: Co-operation in the field of justice and home affairs......
Chapter 25: Customs Union......
Chapter 26: External relations......
Chapter 27: Common foreign and security policy......
Chapter 28: Financial control......
Chapter 29: Financial and budgetary provisions......
3.2General evaluation......
C.Conclusion
D.Accession Partnership: global assessment......
Human rights conventions ratified by the candidate countries
Statistical annex
1
A.Introduction
1.Preface
The European Council in Cardiff in June 1998 noted that the Commission would present a report on Turkey based on Article 28 of the Association Agreement and the conclusions of the Luxembourg European Council of December 1997. The Commission presented its first Regular Report on Turkey in October 1998, together with the Regular Reports for the other candidate countries.
The Helsinki European Council meeting in December 1999 concluded that:
"Turkey is a candidate State destined to join the Union on the basis of the same criteria as applied to the other candidate States. Building on the existing European Strategy, Turkey, like other candidate States, will benefit from a pre-accession strategy to stimulate and support its reforms."
As part of the pre-accession strategy, the Commission reports regularly to the European Council on progress made by each of the candidate countries in preparing for membership. Consequently, the Commission has published a series of yearly Regular Reports on Turkey, covering the years 1998 to 2002.
It is therefore appropriate to produce a Regular Report this year on Turkey’s progress towards accession, on the same basis as in previous years.
The structure followed for this Regular Report is largely the same as that used in previous years. The present Report:
-describes the relations between Turkey and the Union, in particular in the framework of the Association Agreement;
-analyses the situation in respect of the political criteria set by the 1993 Copenhagen European Council (democracy, rule of law, human rights, protection of minorities);
-assesses Turkey’s situation and prospects in respect of the economic criteria defined by the Copenhagen European Council (a functioning market economy and the capacity to cope with competitive pressures and market forces within the Union);
-addresses the question of Turkey’s capacity to assume the obligations of membership, that is, the acquis as expressed in the Treaties, the secondary legislation, and the policies of the Union. In this part, special attention is paid to nuclear safety standards, which were emphasised by the Cologne and Helsinki European Councils. This part includes not only the alignment of legislation, but also the development of the judicial and administrative capacity necessary to implement and enforce the acquis. The European Council stressed the importance of this latter aspect at its meeting in Madrid in 1995 and on a number of subsequent occasions, most recently in Copenhagen in December 2002. At Madrid, the European Council stressed that the candidate countries must adjust their administrative structures, so as to create the conditions for the harmonious integration of these States. The Copenhagen European Council underlined again the importance of judicial and administrative reform in the candidate countries, stating that this will help bring forward their overall preparation for membership.
This Report takes into consideration progress since the 2002 Regular Report. It covers the period until 30 September 2003. In some particular cases, however, measures taken after that date might be mentioned. It looks at whether planned reforms referred to in the 2002 Regular Report have been carried out and examines new initiatives. In addition, this Report provides an overall assessment of the situation for each of the aspects under consideration.
The Report contains a separate section examining briefly the extent to which Turkey has addressed the Accession Partnership priorities.
As has been the case in previous Reports, “progress” has been measured on the basis of decisions actually taken, legislation actually adopted, international conventions actually ratified (with due attention being given to implementation), and measures actually implemented. As a rule, legislation or measures which are in various stages of either preparation or Parliamentary approval have not been taken into account. This approach ensures equal treatment for all the candidate countries and permits an objective assessment of each country in terms of their concrete progress in preparing for accession.
The Report draws on numerous sources of information. Turkey has been invited to provide information on progress made in preparations for membership since the publication of the last Regular Report. The information it has provided within the framework of the Association Agreement, the National Programme for the Adoption of the Acquis, and various peer reviews that have taken place to assess its administrative capacity in a number of areas, have served as additional sources. Council deliberations and European Parliament reports and resolutions have been taken into account in drafting the Report. The Commission has also drawn on assessments made by various international organisations, and in particular the contributions of the Council of Europe, the OSCE and the international financial institutions, and by non-governmental organisations.
2.Relations between the EU and Turkey
The Brussels European Council in October 2002 concluded that:
"Turkey has taken important steps towards meeting the Copenhagen political criteria and moved forward on the economic criteria and alignment with the acquis, as registered in the Commission's Regular Report. This has brought forward the opening of accession negotiations with Turkey. The Union encourages Turkey to pursue its reform process and to take further concrete steps in the direction of implementation, which will advance Turkey's accession in accordance with the same principles and criteria as are applied to the other candidate countries."
The Copenhagen European Council of December 2002:
"recalls its decision in 1999 in Helsinki that Turkey is a candidate state destined to join the Union on the basis of the same criteria as applied to the other candidate States. It strongly welcomes the important steps taken by Turkey towards meeting the Copenhagen criteria, in particular through the recent legislative packages and the subsequent implementation measures which cover a large number of key priorities specified in the Accession Partnership. The Union acknowledges the determination of the new Turkish government to take further steps on the path of reform and urges in particular the government to address swiftly all remaining shortcomings in the field of the political criteria, not only with regard to legislation but also in particular with regard to implementation. The Union recalls that, according to the political criteria decided in Copenhagen in 1993, membership requires that a candidate country has achieved stability of institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for and protection of minorities.
The Union encourages Turkey to pursue energetically its reform process. If the European Council in December 2004, on the basis of a report and a recommendation from the Commission, decides that Turkey fulfils the Copenhagen political criteria, the European Union will open accession negotiations with Turkey without delay.
In order to assist Turkey towards EU membership, the accession strategy for Turkey shall be strengthened. The Commission is invited to submit a proposal for a revised Accession Partnership and to intensify the process of legislative scrutiny. In parallel, the EC-Turkey Customs Union should be extended and deepened. The Union will significantly increase its pre-accession financial assistance for Turkey. This assistance will from 2004 be financed under the budget heading 'pre-accession expenditure.'
The Thessaloniki European Council in June 2003:
"welcomes the commitment of the Turkish government to carry forward the reform process, in particular the remaining legislative work by the end of 2003, and supports its ongoing efforts made in order to fulfil the Copenhagen political criteria for opening accession negotiations with the Union. Taking into account progress achieved, significant further efforts to this end are still required. With a view to helping Turkey achieve this objective, the Council adopted recently a revised Accession Partnership, which sets out the priorities that Turkey should pursue, supported by substantially increased pre-accession financial assistance. In accordance with the Helsinki conclusions, fulfilment of these priorities will assist Turkey towards EU membership. The Accession Partnership constitutes the cornerstone of EU-Turkey relations, in particular in view of the decision to be taken by the European Council in December 2004."
The pre-accession strategy has continued to be implemented. In summary, the following results can be mentioned for the reporting period:
-Enhanced political dialogue continued under the Danish, Greek and Italian Presidencies. Among the items discussed were the political reforms in Turkey, human rights, Cyprus and the peaceful settlement of disputes. Views were also exchanged on wider international issues such as Iraq, Caucasus, Western Balkans, Middle East and Afghanistan.
-A -first meeting of the enhanced economic dialogue took place in September 2003. This meeting was particularly useful to exchange information about the economic situation and the pace of economic reforms in Turkey.
-Three meetings of the regular monitoring of the political criteria took place alternately in Brussels and in Ankara. These meetings were chaired by the Commission with the participation of a representative of the Presidency.
-The Customs Union Joint Committee met in Brussels in December 2002.
-In view of deepening the customs union, the Commission is working with Turkey on an action plan in order to achieve the complete free circulation of goods. As regards the extension of the customs union, work on the liberalisation of services and public procurements has continued with a view to the resumption of negotiations.
-Effective participation of Turkey in a number of Community programmes and agencies started in 2003 on the basis of the Framework Agreement with Turkey signed on 26 February 2002.Turkey currently participates in the following Community programmes: Enterprise and Entrepreneurship, e-Content, Gender Equality, Combating Discrimination, Combating Social Exclusion, Incentive Measures in the field of Employment, the new Public Health Programme and the 6th Framework Programme on Research. The pre-accession financial assistance programme helps meet part of the costs of participation in these programmes and agencies. Preparations continue to allow Turkish participation in a number of other programmes: Intelligent Energies, IDA, Fiscalis 2007 and Customs 2007.
-Turkey is now a member of the European Environment Agency. The agreement was signed on 23 January 2003. Turkish participation in the European Monitoring Centre on Drugs and Drug Addiction in Lisbon is also being prepared.
-Following the conclusions of the Copenhagen European Council in December 2002, the Commission presented in March 2003 a Communication on "Strengthening the Accession Strategy for Turkey". In this communication, the Commission proposed a substantial increase in financial assistance for the period 2004-2006. Pre-accession financial assistance should reach € 250 million in 2004, € 300 million in 2005 and € 500 million in 2006. In line with the approach followed for all candidate countries, financial assistance will be linked to the priorities set out in the Accession Partnership. The communication also proposed enhanced co-operation in other areas, such as the political dialogue, the economic dialogue, justice and home affairs, maritime safety, the process of legislative scrutiny, extending the scope of the customs union, and deepening trade relations.
A revised Accession Partnership was adopted by the Council on 19 May 2003. More details on this instrument can be found in part D of this report.
A revised National Programme for the Adoption of the Acquis was adopted on 24 July 2003. This document sets out how Turkey envisages dealing with the Accession Partnership, the timetable for implementing the Partnership’s priorities, and implications in terms of human and financial resources. Both the Accession Partnership and the National Programme for the Adoption of the Acquis are revised on a regular basis to take account of progress made and to allow for new priorities to be set.
As a candidate country for accession to the EU, Turkey was invited to participate as an observer in the Intergovernmental Conference on the future institutional architecture of the Union.
Recent developments under the Association Agreement, including bilateral trade
The Association Council met in Luxembourg on 15 April 2003. An Association Committee meeting was held in Brussels on 15 March 2003. The system of sub-committees continues to function as a forum for technical discussions.
The Joint Parliamentary Committee comprising representatives of Turkey and the European Parliament met in Istanbul in June 2003. On 5 June 2003, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on Turkey's application for membership of the European Union.[1] The Joint Consultative Committee with the Economic and Social Committee met in Istanbul in April 2003.
The share of the European Community in Turkey’s foreign trade increased in 2002, after declining in 2000 and 2001. Turnover in trade with the EC in 2002 was 13.4% up on 2001 and accounted for 47.9% of Turkey’s overall trade. In 2002, exports to the EC were 6.1% up on 2001, accounting for 51.4% (€ 19.1 billion) of Turkey’s total export sales. Its main industrial exports to the EC were apparel, textiles, and vehicles and automotive parts. In 2002, imports from the EC were up by 19.8% on 2001, accounting for 45.5% (€ 24.5 billion) of Turkey’s total imports. Its main industrial imports were machinery and iron and steel.
Turkey’s agricultural exports to the Community fell in 2002 and its imports from the EU increased, leading to a reduction in the size of its significant trade surplus in the sector. The surplus is mainly accounted for by Turkey’s exports of fruits and nuts; its main agricultural imports are cereals. Further agricultural trade liberalisation under Decision No 1/98 of the EC-Turkey Association Council is hampered by Turkey’s ban on imports of most live animals and meat products from the EU.
In September 2002 the EU adopted definitive safeguard measures on imports of certain steel products, with erga omnes effect. These measures are the absolute minimum necessary to protect EU steel producers from serious injury due to surging imports resulting from US protectionism, culminating in the US safeguard measures of March 2002.
In October 2002, a new anti-dumping investigation was initiated on imports of hollow sections and provisional measures were adopted in July 2003.
Community assistance
There is a dedicated pre-accession instrument to assist Turkey: the pre-accession financial assistance programme for Turkey adopted by the Council in December 2001. The procedures for programming and implementing this programme now largely mirror those of the Phare programme. The support provided by the pre-accession financial assistance programme is focused on the Accession Partnership priorities which are intended to help Turkey meet the criteria for membership.
Initially Turkey received support under the Meda programme and more recently through the two “European Strategy” regulations to support the customs union and economic and social development. A “pre-accession” focus was established for Turkey within these programmes following the conclusions of the Helsinki European Council.
The pre-accession financial assistance regulation superseded the above regulations from 2002. Like the Phare programme, it provides support for institution building, investment to strengthen the regulatory infrastructure needed to ensure compliance with the acquis, and investment in economic and social cohesion. This support comprises co-financing for technical assistance, twinning (see below) and investment-support projects, to help Turkey with its efforts to adopt the acquis and strengthen the institutions necessary for implementing and enforcing the acquis. The pre-accession financial assistance programme is also intended to help Turkey develop the mechanisms and institutions to promote economic and social cohesion; it is supported by a limited number of measures (investment and grant schemes) with a regional or thematic focus. It may also support activities which in the other candidate countries would be financed by ISPA or SAPARD.
Deconcentration of the management of all ongoing cooperation programmes with Turkey to the Commission Delegation in Ankara has continued to bear fruit. 2002 proved to be the most successful year to date for the Commission’s financial assistance programmes to Turkey, with the value of projects contracted considerably exceeding the value of new commitments. 2003 is on target to produce a similar performance leading to a significant reduction in the backlog of assistance which had built up over the period 1996-2001.
Furthermore, following the decision in 2001 to establish a decentralised implementation system in Turkey, the Commission has accredited the agencies forming part of the system (National Aid Co-ordinator, Central Finance and Contract Unit, National Fund). A formal decision was subsequently taken to devolve responsibility for implementing pre-accession financial assistance programmes to the Turkish government.