Document ID: 32006D0035

COUNCIL DECISION
of 23 January 2006
on the principles, priorities and conditions contained in the Accession Partnership with Turkey
(2006/35/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 to 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 following 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.
(4)
In December 2004, the European Council concluded that the European Union will 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 advancement 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)
In order to prepare for membership, Turkey is expected to develop a plan with a timetable and specific measures to address the priorities of this Accession Partnership,
HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:
Article 1
The principles, priorities, intermediate objectives and conditions in the Accession Partnership for Turkey are set out in the Annex hereto, which forms an integral part of this Decision.
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 by the Commission.
Article 3
This Decision shall take effect on the third day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
Done at Brussels, 23 January 2006.

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