TURKEY:EU foreign ministers yesterday agreed to partially suspend Turkey's EU membership talks following Ankara's continued refusal to open trade relations with Cyprus.
After lengthy discussions on the extent to which Ankara should be sanctioned for its treatment of Cyprus, member states finally agreed to follow the European Commission's line and freeze negotiations in eight of the 35 legislative areas.
These concern free movement of goods, right of establishment and freedom to provide services, financial services, agriculture and rural development, fisheries, transport policy, customs union and external relations.
Under the deal, Turkey's compliance with EU demands will be reviewed annually with particular emphasis paid to the Cyprus issue over the next three years.
Foreign ministers also agreed to re-examine commitments made in 2004 to end the economic isolation of the Turkish northern part of Cyprus - an issue Turkey had raised several times.
Praising the deal, enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn said the situation would now rely on "regular reporting", adding that Ankara was not being given an ultimatum.
The 11th hour consensus comes just three days before EU leaders are to meet for their traditional December summit and represents a diplomatic coup for the Finnish EU presidency that had said it was determined that Turkey talks should not dominate the summit.
A visibly relieved Finnish foreign minister said the deal "strikes the right balance".
The deal sends a signal that Turkey's refusal to open up its sea and airports to trade from Cyprus "cannot remain without consequences", said Erkki Tuomioja, adding that it also "clarifies the way further and enables progress in the accession negotiations".
The deal also shows that the EU as whole - despite some countries not being in favour of Turkish membership of the EU - is not prepared to go to the brink and derail Ankara's membership talks.
Germany's foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier illustrated the point by saying, "Turkey's rapprochement towards Europe, the integration of Turkey in the system of European values, is a project of outstanding importance.
"This is not, as people in some member states demand, a discussion about breaking off the accession process," he said.
"It's important to send this double signal that on the one hand there should be no train crash . . . but that there should be a slowdown," said Spanish foreign minister Miguel Angel Moratinos.
With Turkey mostly off the agenda, EU leaders will on Thursday be set to have a general debate on further enlargement with the commission last month proposing a stricter process that takes into account the EU's ability to take on new countries and more closely monitors countries while they are in the accession process.
"The message should go out to all those countries that are looking to join that we are still positively disposed towards other member states joining the EU," said foreign minister Dermot Ahern of the end-of-week discussions.
British foreign secretary Margaret Beckett emerged from the talks insisting Turkey's long-term EU ambitions were unaffected and there had not been a long-predicted "train crash" in negotiations. "There has been no train crash - the train is still firmly on track," she said.