EU Gives Turkey Go-Ahead to Begin Membership Talks

 

By Roger Wilkison

The European Commission has given Turkey the go-ahead to begin talks to join the European Union, but set a series of tough conditions and warned that there is no guarantee the negotiations¹ will be successful. That the final decision now rests with EU leaders who will discuss the issue at a summit in December.

The head of the European Commission, the EU executive body, announced the long-awaited decision to members of the European Parliament. Romano Prodi gave a cautious recommendation.

"And the response today is 'yes', with respect to criteria² and opening negotiations, but it is a qualified³ yes," he announced.

Among the conditions Mr. Prodi and his enlargement commissioner⁴, Guenter Verheugen, laid out was that the commission reserves the right to suspend negotiations with Turkey if Ankara backtracks in any way on implementation⁶ of democratic and human rights reforms that it has enacted⁷ to meet EU standards.

That drew a sharp response from Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was visiting the Council of Europe, a human rights organization based in the French city of Strasboug.

Mr. Erdogan says the European Union should apply the same criteria to Turkey that it has to other applicants⁸. But he called the Commission's report balanced and said he hopes that Turkey's accession negotiations will begin early next year.

The Commission did not set a starting date for the talks. That is up to EU leaders. But EU officials have said they do not expect the negotiations to begin until late 2005.

Despite growing political and popular opposition⁹ in the European Union to Turkey's membership, Commissioner Verheugen told reporters in Brussels that there was no other option but to give Turkey the green light to begin talks.

"In my view, the choice was very clear. It was a choice between the 'yes' and 'not yet'. And Turkey was simply too good to allow us to say it has to be 'not yet'. Progress was simply too strong and the involvement of civil society in Turkey was simply too positive in order to allow us to say 'no'," explained Commissioner Verheugen.

Turkey has carried out far reaching political reforms, especially during the past two years under Mr. Erdogan's leadership. Mr. Verheugen says it will take time to fully¹⁰ implement⁵ those reforms and that the accession negotiations will act as a spur for EU standards to become rooted in Turkey.

"And we need the process of reform in Turkey in order to see Turkey as a stable country based on the same values that we have in the European Union and firmly anchored in the western world," he said.

Mr. Verheugen says the European Union will carefully monitor the implementation of new laws against torture and will make sure there is constant improvement in areas such as women's and minority rights and freedom of expression and religion.

Roger Wilkison, VOA news, Brussels.
注释：
long-awaited 被期待已久的
criteria 标准
qualified 有资格的
Ankara 安卡拉（土耳其首都）
Strasboug 斯特拉斯堡（位于法国东北部）
spur 刺激
anchor 使稳固，使稳定

1 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

2 criteria   

n.标准

参考例句：

• The main criterion is value for money.主要的标准是钱要用得划算。
• There are strict criteria for inclusion in the competition.参赛的标准很严格。

3 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

4 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

5 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

6 implementation   

n.实施，贯彻

参考例句：

• Implementation of the program is now well underway.这一项目的实施现在行情看好。

7 enacted   

制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• legislation enacted by parliament 由议会通过的法律
• Outside in the little lobby another scene was begin enacted. 外面的小休息室里又是另一番景象。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

8 applicants   

申请人，求职人( applicant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were over 500 applicants for the job. 有500多人申请这份工作。
• He was impressed by the high calibre of applicants for the job. 求职人员出色的能力给他留下了深刻印象。

9 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

10 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。