EU foreign ministers discussed the possibility of launching accession talks at a summit of EU leaders on 16-17 June, said Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency.
"We may talk about launching negotiations with Iceland as a candidate country […] In principle I don't think there will be so many difficulties, but we have to wait and see how we create the consensus for including this issue in the agenda," he said, quoted by RTE news.
Maroš Šefčovič, EU commissioner for institutional affairs, said he had noted "solid support" for Iceland at the ministerial meeting.
Support for Iceland's EU accession bid is broad among the bloc's member states, despite the country's troubled economy. On 8 March, Enlargement Commissioner Štefan Füle said the possible reimbursement of €3.9bn lost by British and Dutch savers in the Icesave bank crash was a bilateral issue and should not affect the country's EU accession prospects (EurActiv 09/03/10).
But Spain, which has been open to furthering EU enlargement throughout its presidency, also made encouraging noises vis-à-vis Turkey.
"The Spanish Presidency believes that we must continue the negotiation process with determination and move towards the opening of new chapters," Moratinos said after an EU-Turkey Association Council, held on the sidelines of the ministerial meeting.
The Spanish minister said he could not specify how many chapters he expects to open during the Spanish term, which ends on 30 June, but he gave assurances that internal efforts are being made in the EU and that the presidency is doing "additional work on those chapters that have more political elements" (see 'Background').
Commissioner Stefan Füle noted on the same occasion that there were opportunities to open the competition and food security chapters this year, adding that he would also like to start work on the energy and education chapters.
For his part, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said his country was "determined to continue with wide-ranging reforms".
Referring to the recent approval in parliament of a bill introduced by the ruling AKP party to reform the constitution, he said that the move was "perhaps one of the broader reforms in the history of Turkey" and that his country would continue working to implement "democratic standards" in accordance with EU law.
United in global affairs
Both Moratinos and Davutoğlu stressed the need to cooperate more closely on foreign affairs.
Davutoğlu said Turkey could contribute to making the European Union a global player.
He explained that he had held discussions with EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton about Iran and its nuclear ambitions, and that Turkey continues mediation efforts "because there is still a margin for diplomacy".
In the meantime, Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, said he could hold talks with EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton in Turkey. No date was specified.
Ashton said in Brussels on Monday that she was prepared to hold talks with Iranian leaders, but only about its controversial nuclear programme.
