FRANCE: France's political establishment came out in force yesterday against Turkish membership of the European Union, writes Lara Marlowe in Paris
The country's three leading political parties, President Jacques Chirac's UMP, the socialists and the centre-right UDF, all said the status of a "privileged partner" may be preferable to granting Turkey full membership.
During a special debate in the National Assembly, France's parliament, Prime Minister Mr Jean-Pierre Raffarin tried to reassure members by saying accession would not occur before 2015, and the head of the socialist group - who in theory supports Turkey's application - said it could take another 20 years.
Mr Uluç Özülker, Turkey's ambassador to Paris, left after the first third of the three-hour debate. "They're all repeating each other, he said. "We don't need a 'partnership' - we already have an agreement of association. What we need is participation in the decision-making process."
A UMP member of the parliament, Mr Philippe Pemezec, said it wasn't true that other Europeans supported Turkish accession. "They are waiting for France to have the courage to be the first to say Non!" he claimed.
EU heads of government, meeting on December 17th as the European Council, are expected to vote to open negotiations with Turkey.
"You can't say you're against accession and you're opening negotiations," Mr Nicolas Dupont-Aignan said. "It doesn't make sense." Mr Dupont-Aignan is from Mr Chirac's party, but opposes the president's policy. "A referendum 15 years from now, when there's nothing left to decide, is a trap," he added.
Although Mr Chirac says he supports Turkey's membership in the long term, his prime minister opened with a tepid speech. For 45 years, Mr Raffarin noted, "the response of France [ to Turkey] has always been the same: the greatest reservations, or even dramatic refusals when European integration was in question."
Mr Raffarin said Paris should not lie to the Turkish people: "Let us state clearly that their accession to the European Union is not possible today, nor tomorrow, nor in coming years ... Today, Turkey is far from Europe on the political, economic and social levels."
The leader of the socialist group, Mr Jean-Marc Ayrault, said the government's handling of the Turkish question has contributed to the "regression" of French influence in Europe.
For 50 years, Mr Ayrault continued, "Every president of the Republic, every government, has supported opening accession negotiations between Turkey and the EU. And when the time comes, our word becomes imprecise, hesitant and contradictory."
But at the end of the day, the socialists shared Mr Raffarin's conclusions. "Does [ Turkey] respect the conditions of accession at this stage?" Mr Ayrault asked. "And is the Union ready to integrate her harmoniously? Today, the answer of the socialists to these two questions is No."
After complaining bitterly that deputies were not allowed to vote, the UDF leader, Mr Francois Bayrou, said he will propose a resolution requiring Mr Chirac to specify in Brussels that accession or a "privileged partnership" could be the outcome of talks.
Mr Bayrou quoted the president of the EU Commission, Mr José Manuel Barroso, who told Le Monde newspaper a few days ago that "it is not up to Europe to adapt to Turkey; it's up to Turkey to adapt to Europe."
If countries are forced to bend too much, Mr Bayrou warned, their altered identity "snaps back like a spring, like a boomerang... in the most neurotic, violent way, in the form of fundamentalism, fanaticism or violence."