COUNCIL DECISION
of 18 February 2008
on the principles, priorities and conditions contained in the Accession Partnership with the Republic of Turkey and repealing Decision 2006/35/EC
(2008/157/EC)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 390/2001 of 26 February 2001 on assistance to Turkey in the framework of the pre-accession strategy, and in particular on the establishment of an Accession Partnership (1), and in particular Article 2 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,
Whereas:
(1)
Regulation (EC) No 390/2001 provides that the Council is to decide, by a qualified majority and acting on a proposal from the Commission, on the principles, priorities, intermediate objectives and conditions contained in the Accession Partnership, as it will be submitted to Turkey, as well as on subsequent significant adjustments applicable to it.
(2)
On that basis the Council adopted an Accession Partnership with Turkey in 2001 and 2003 (2).
(3)
The Commission’s 2004 recommendation on Turkey stressed that the European Union should continue the monitoring of the political reform process and that a revised Accession Partnership should be proposed in 2005. Following that, the Council adopted a revised Partnership in January 2006 (3).
(4)
In December 2004 the European Council concluded that the European Union would continue to monitor closely progress of the political reforms on the basis of an Accession Partnership setting out priorities for the reform process.
(5)
On 3 October 2005 the Member States started negotiations with Turkey on its accession to the European Union. The progress of the negotiations will be guided by Turkey’s progress in preparing for accession, which will be measured, inter alia, against the implementation of the Accession Partnership, as regularly revised.
(6)
The Commission’s Communication on Enlargement Strategy and Main Challenges 2006-2007 indicated that the Partnerships would be updated at the end of 2007.
(7)
On 11 December 2006 the Council agreed that the Member States within the Intergovernmental Conference would not decide on opening eight chapters covering policy areas relevant to Turkey’s restrictions as regards the Republic of Cyprus, nor would they decide on provisionally closing chapters, until the Commission verified that Turkey had fulfilled its commitments related to the Additional Protocol.
(8)
On 17 July 2006 the Council adopted Regulation (EC) No 1085/2006 establishing an instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) (4), which sets out a new framework for financial assistance to pre-accession countries.
(9)
It is therefore appropriate to adopt a revised Accession Partnership which updates the current Partnership in order to identify renewed priorities for further work on the basis of the findings of the 2007 Progress Report on Turkey’s preparations for further integration with the European Union.
(10)
In order to prepare for membership, Turkey should develop a plan with a timetable and specific measures to address the priorities of the Accession Partnership.
(11)
Decision 2006/35/EC should be repealed,
HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:
Article 1
In accordance with Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 390/2001, the principles, priorities, intermediate objectives and conditions contained in the Accession Partnership for Turkey are set out in the Annex hereto.
Article 2
The implementation of the Accession Partnership shall be examined and monitored in the bodies established under the Association Agreement and by the Council on the basis of annual reports presented by the Commission.
Article 3
Decision 2006/35/EC shall be repealed.
Article 4
This Decision shall take effect on the third day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
Done at Brussels, 18 February 2008.