Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the Recommendation of the European Commission on Turkey's progress towards accession
Date: 2005-07-06
Institutions: European Committee of the Regions
Subjects: Türkiye, accession to the European Union

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Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the Recommendation of the European Commission
on Turkey's progress towards accession

(2006/C 31/03)

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS,

having regard to the Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament
— Recommendation of the European Commission on Turkey's progress towards accession (COM(2004)
656 final);

having regard to the European Commission's decision of 29 November 2004 to consult it under the first
paragraph of Article 265 of the Treaty establishing the European Community;

having regard to its Bureau's decision of 28 September 2004 to instruct its Commission for External Rela-
tions to draw up an opinion on the European Commission's strategy on progress in the enlargement
process;

having regard to the European Council presidency conclusions of 17 December 2004 to open accession
negotiations with Turkey on 3 October 2005; the presidency conclusions of the Thessaloniki European
Council of 19 and 20 June 2003; the conclusions of the Copenhagen European Council of 12 and 13
December 2002; and the conclusions of the Helsinki European Council of 10 and 11 December 1999;

having regard to the European Parliament's report on the regular report and the recommendation of the
European Commission on Turkey's progress towards accession (COM(2004) 656 final) (A6-0063/2004
final);

having regard to its resolution of 18 November 2004 on the opening of negotiations for Turkey's acces-
sion to the EU (CdR 476/2004);

having regard to the conclusions adopted at the seminar between Turkish local authorities and the CoR
Commission for External Relations held in Ankara on 11 October 2004 (the Ankara declaration, CdR
477/2004);

having regard to the European Charter of Local Self-Government which Turkey ratified in 1992;

having regard to its draft opinion (CdR 495/2004 rev. 1) adopted by the Commission for External Rela-
tions on 26 April 2005 (rapporteur: Ms Helene Lund, Local Councillor, Farum, DK/PES);

wishing to submit views on Turkey's progress towards accession from a local and regional perspective;

whereas:

1.

2.

the Council's decision to open negotiations with Turkey on 3 October 2005 has given that country
a European outlook for the future. However, further substantial progress is needed. The negotiations
must remain an open process;

Turkey is currently undergoing radical changes — in attitudes among other things. It can thus
become an important role model for countries of the Middle East as a state with a mainly Muslim
population that is committing itself to basic principles such as freedom, democracy, respect for
human rights and fundamental freedoms, and the rule of law;

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3.

4.

5.

6.

the Turkish authorities have abolished the death penalty, introduced a ‘zero-tolerance’ policy on
torture, lifted many restrictions on freedom of expression, assembly and religion, and guaranteed
certain cultural rights for all Turkish citizens, including citizens of Kurdish extraction. Steps have
also been taken to tackle corruption, which is a serious problem, not least in public administration.
However, efforts on this front still need to be stepped up at all levels of government. Moreover,
physical and mental violence against women is deemed completely unacceptable;

Turkey is a centralised state, where few tasks are devolved to elected local and regional authorities.
Moreover, under the legally recognised principles and procedures, the state exercises considerable
supervisory powers over local authorities.
In many fields, government-appointed officials —
including the governors — have more power than local and regional elected representatives. Admin-
istrative supervision of local authorities is exercised by the interior minister and the governors of the
81 provinces;

the Commission has put forward a three-pillar strategy. The first pillar concerns cooperation to rein-
force and support the reform process in Turkey, in particular in relation to the continued fulfilment
of the Copenhagen political criteria. The second pillar relates to the specific conditions for the
conduct of accession negotiations with Turkey. The third pillar entails a substantially strengthened
political and cultural dialogue bringing people together from EU Member States and Turkey. Help
and support in building up Turkish civil society must be seen as a key factor in any Turkey acces-
sion;

the Committee of the Regions will be focusing on those areas that fall within local and regional
authorities' remit, and its active involvement must centre on practical issues that can be resolved
through genuine cooperation between local and regional partners in the EU and Turkey. In that
regard, it will be useful to draw on experience of twinning and capacity-building projects at local
and regional level;

adopted the following opinion at its 60th plenary session of 6 and 7 July 2005 (meeting of 6 July)

1. Views of the Committee of the Regions

The Committee of the Regions

1.5
stresses that steps must be taken to ensure that the
planned legislation does in fact enter into force and, above all,
is appropriately implemented, and that effective action is taken
against human rights abuses. The Republic of Cyprus must be
officially recognised before negotiations begin;

1.1
stresses that Turkey will be subject to the same acces-
sion criteria as the other candidate countries and welcomes
the reforms undertaken by the Turkish authorities over the past
few years, which have helped Turkey towards meeting the
Copenhagen criteria sufficiently to allow the opening of EU
accession negotiations;

1.6
draws attention to the fact that Turkey is a country
with major regional disparities. This presents an additional
challenge to assure any development designed to secure bene-
fits right across the country;

1.2
acknowledges that over the past few years, and espe-
cially since the 2002 elections, Turkey has carried out more
reforms than in the decades that went before. The Turkish
Parliament has introduced a range of reforms — including a
package relating to public administration — and has also
adopted a large number of laws, decrees and ordinances to put
the reforms into practice; notes however, that some of these
laws have been vetoed by the president and, as a result, have
not yet entered into force;

acknowledges

that Turkey has made

substantial
1.3
progress in its political reforms, not least by adopting far-
reaching constitutional and legislative changes
that have
revamped the political and legal systems;

draws attention to the fact that further legislation is

1.4
still to be adopted;

considers that the reform package for public adminis-
1.7
tration should be adopted as quickly as possible following
appropriate consultation with local and regional authority orga-
nisations and civil society;

1.8 wishes to make a constructive contribution to imple-
menting the three pillars of the Commission's strategy, particu-
larly the third one, i.e. a substantially strengthened political and
cultural dialogue bringing people together from EU Member
States and Turkey. Civil society and regional and local authori-
ties should play an important role in this dialogue, which
should be facilitated by the Commission with concrete actions
in order to make the dialogue effective;

1.9 welcomes civil society's increased involvement in civic
life, and underscores the need to support the further develop-
ment of civil
to freedom of
assembly;

including the right

society,

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1.10
considers that enhanced cooperation and exchange of
information and best practice at local and regional level fosters
democracy and social and economic development;

1.11
draws attention to the following areas in which local
and regional authorities can usefully help Turkey as it prepares
for accession:

a) upgrading and organising public administration, especially

regional and local;

b) administrative management of public services;

1.14
considers that local and regional authorities imple-
ment a large part of EU legislation and thus will have a key
role to play in any Turkey accession. Through close coopera-
local and
tion on specific projects, the EU Member States'
regional authorities can help carry through reforms and imple-
ment the EU acquis at local and regional level;

acknowledges the particular challenges arising from
1.15
Turkey's membership with regard to the future application of
the common agricultural policy, of the cohesion policy and of
the free movement of workers;

c) regional and spatial planning;

d) urban planning;

1.16
endorses the Commission's views on the need for an
impact assessment, an implementation plan and budgetary and
financial frameworks;

e) agriculture, fisheries and rural development;

f) environment, resource management and civil protection;

g) the sub-regional dimension of transport and energy;

h) policies promoting SMEs;

i) policies promoting employment;

j) policies promoting equal rights and to combat discrimina-

tion on the grounds of gender or ethnic origin;

k) cultural and sporting initiatives;

l) policies for safeguarding and fostering cultural heritage;

m) policies to help bring people closer together;

n) education and training;

o) health and social care;

p) managing immigration flows, reception and integration

policy;

q) housing;

r) security and safety measures;

s) public tendering procedures;

t) local democracy and civil participation;

1.12
notes that strengthening local and regional develop-
ment is vital to fostering economic and social progress in all
areas of Turkey and, in this context, considers that the devolu-
tion of state powers to regional and local government should
be encouraged and requested;

1.13
underscores the need to involve the regional and local
level at an early stage in the accession process, and to give high
priority to the environment as one of the main areas of the
EU acquis of importance for the regional and local level; notes
that some progress has been made on the environment, and
administrative capacity has been strengthened, but that further
progress has to be made, not least in securing better coordina-
tion among the administrations concerned;

1.17 would like, as with previous candidate countries, to
see closer dialogue with the Turkish local authorities;

1.18
stresses the importance of zero tolerance of torture
and ill-treatment; the rights and freedoms of all minorities;
respect for all religions, especially the issue of equal legal treat-
ment for all religions; zero tolerance of discrimination and
violence against women; and compliance with ILO child labour
standards;

1.19
underlines the importance of strengthening local and
regional-level administrative capacity to ensure that the EU
acquis is implemented and enforced effectively:

considers that the Turkish government has a manifest
1.20
obligation to recognise all the Member States of the European
Union fully and without reservations and to unconditionally
respect the human rights and individual freedoms of all Euro-
pean citizens without exception.

2. The Committee of the Regions' recommendations

The Committee of the Regions

asks the Commission to actively involve local and
2.1
regional authorities in the work of implementing its strategy's
three pillars, particularly the third one:
i.e. a substantially
strengthened political and cultural dialogue bringing people
together from EU Member States and Turkey;

2.2
encourages the Commission to launch an information
campaign in close cooperation with local and regional authori-
ties in order to inform EU citizens about relations with Turkey
and to support exchange programmes that will help to increase
mutual understanding between EU citizens and Turkish society;

encourages the Commission to draw on the experience
2.3
of EU Member States' local and regional authorities in building
up local democracy and developing local and regional adminis-
trations;

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recommends that,

2.4
in its next communication on
Turkey — due at the end of 2005 — the Commission should
also consider
role in that
local and regional authorities'
country, including a request to establish an independent sub-
national level that will be closely integrated into the drafting of
strategies defining priorities for local and regional development
and into subsequent implementation of EU Structural Fund
programmes and other regional development initiatives;

2.5
recommends, as with previous candidate countries, the
establishment of a joint consultative committee involving its
own representatives and representatives of Turkish local and
regional authorities;

2.6
calls on the Turkish government to step up the reform
of devolved public administration, in as much as it is a key
factor in the economic and social development of the area,
with a view to its full, irreversible and sustainable implementa-
tion as quickly as possible;

2.7
recommends that the local and regional authorities be
provided with the necessary financial and human resources to
implement the reforms, and that particular attention be paid to
least-
the economic and social development of Turkey's
favoured regions;

2.8
considers that the Turkish regions, especially those in
the south-east of the country, will be able to draw on the struc-
tural and cohesion funds to foster social and economic devel-
opment;

2.9
hence calls for specific initiatives to be put in place to
support local and regional authorities' administrative capacity
in the use of structural support; the Turkish government is like-
wise called upon to set aside the requisite resources for co-
financing;

Brussels, 6 July 2005.

2.10
calls for local and regional elected representatives to
be given more powers and a broader remit, and for a corre-
sponding increase in the share of public expenditure assigned
to local and regional authorities;

calls for the establishment of a legal framework for

2.11
regional development policy;

asks the Turkish government to take steps to ensure
2.12
that the country is able to implement EU legislation, including
at local and regional level;

asks Turkey to do what is necessary to eliminate the
2.13
concerns expressed in the Commission recommendation, not
least with regard to respect for human rights, the full exercise
of fundamental rights and freedoms by all including minorities;

urges the Turkish government to develop and expand
2.14
the principle of local and regional self-government in accord-
ance with the European Charter of Local Self-Government, and
to guarantee full and direct participation of citizens;

expects the Turkish Government to act on its confir-
2.15
mation to ratify the Protocol on the adaptation of the Ankara
Agreement prior to the actual start of the accession negotia-
tions;

urges Turkey to fully respect international law and the

2.16
principle of good-neighbourliness;

intends to present

2.17
its views on Turkey's accession
from a local and regional standpoint when the right opportu-
nity arises in the future, and it urges the European Union to
consult it whenever the regular reports are drawn up.

The President

of the Committee of the Regions

Peter STRAUB