Tag: accession

Tamar Beruchachvili, Georgia's deputy state minister of European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, told EurActiv that the country’s new policy towards Russia “would certainly not jeopardise relations with the EU”.

Fast advantages from a proposed customs union with Russia will become an irresistible temptation for Ukrainian politicians in comparison with the uncertain prospects of the EU's 'Eastern Partnership' and Association Agreement, writes Viktor Tkachuk.

Icelanders may appear sceptical about joining the EU, but the country needs the European Union more than the other way around, Estonian MEP Indrek Tarand (Greens/European Free Alliance), a member of the EU-Iceland joint parliamentary committee, told EurActiv in an exclusive interview.

EU countries have agreed to proceed with Albania's application for membership of the European Union, a first step in a long process towards possible membership of the bloc, EU diplomats said.

"Five years (or two and a half, in the case of Bulgaria and Romania) following accession, EU membership for the ten central and eastern European states […] has not marked the end of the process of transition of those countries," writes Assya Kavrakova in a recent report for the European Policies Initiative (EuPI).

Despite the success of recent reforms and a burgeoning economy, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BH) has yet to overcome a number of hurdles on its path to EU accession, argues Lidija Topic in a June 2008 policy brief for the European Policy Centre.

Recent threats made against the AKP government indicate that Turkey's political turmoil has intensified since 2007, writes Katinka Barysch of the Centre for European Reform in an April blog post.

2008 will be the 'year of the EU' in Turkey, said the country's foreign minister and chief negotiator on EU accession, Ali Babacan, responding to recent criticism over perceived interruptions to the country's progress towards full EU membership. EurActiv Turkey reports.

Growing scepticism about the EU is spreading through Turkish society, writes Zeynep Gögüş, publisher of EurActiv Turkey in the following commentary.

For many politicians, journalists and think-tanks, the benefits of Turkish accession to the EU are "plain to see", writes Katinka Barysch in an August 2007 paper for the Centre for European Reform (CER).

The AK Party's victory in the July 2007 parliamentary elections creates an opportunity for both it and the EU to "re-launch" Turkey's accession process, according to an August report from the International Crisis Group.

The Commission has called on Macedonia’s governing party to engage in ''constructive dialogue'' with the ethnic Albanian minority party to solve an ongoing political rift. Despite the tensions, Vice-President and Minister for EU Affairs Gabriela Konevska-Trajkovska thinks that Macedonia is ready to open EU accession negotiations. She spoke to EurActiv Slovakia.

The recent political and societal tensions in Turkey are necessary and unavoidable steps on the road to the normalisation of democracy, writes Senem Aydin Düzgit in a 6 July commentary for the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS).

The current turmoil in Turkey may well be the vital test of its democracy that the EU has long been calling for, states Katinka Barysch – chief economist at the Centre for European Reform (CER). In a new paper, she claims that if Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan succeeds in facing down the generals now, then future coups will become almost impossible.

A Turkish reform plan to complete EU-accession talks by 2013 has been cautiously welcomed by the Commission, with Turkish officials saying that the reforms would be carried out even if the country is eventually refused EU membership.

The newly elected Austrian government has taken over plans by its predecessor to hold a referendum on Turkey’s entry to the EU, but supports an early accession of the Western Balkan countries.

EU foreign ministers have agreed to partially suspend talks with Turkey, to avoid an open crisis at the upcoming EU summit on 14-15 December 2006.

The survey by A&G shows a dramatic drop in Turkish public support for entering the EU. This signal comes as a warning only weeks before the Commission’s report.

Commission Vice-President Günter Verheugen has criticised the EU for sending "negative signals", adding that full membership should be the aim of negotiations.

The EU welcomed the decision to clear a writer of charges, but insists that Turkey changes its laws to allow greater freedom of expression.

Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev would like to see his country join the EU in 2007, but is sceptical of certain safeguard measures.

Commissioner Olli Rehn has called upon Bulgaria to take reforms seriously; he said that more progress was needed on justice and home affairs.

Turkey should develop a National Lisbon Reform Programme, says an expert report. Other reforms should tackle the issues of employment of women and trade union rights.

The Bulgarian government has reacted sharply to reproaches by the Commission of having made only limited progress on the country's way to EU accession.