WHERE ARE WE IN THE EU ACCESSION PROCESS?

Speaking in the opening of the Conference: "European Commission's Progress Report for Turkey 2010: Where are we in the EU Accession Process?" organized in Ankara, Minister for EU Affairs and the Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis touched upon the report and the membership process.

In the conference organized by Secretariat General for EU Affairs (EUSG), Union of Chamber and Commodity Exchanges, Delegation of the European Union to Turkey and EU Information Centres, Bagis stated that, when compared with the past, it was seen that Turkey made a good progress.

Underlying the fact that Turkey was progressing towards its strategic target, Egemen Bagis said that the only outcome that would be reached as a result of the objective evaluation of the report is: "We are progressing in the right way and our determination in the negotiation process has also been confirmed by the Commission."

Noting that there were some criticism related to the freedom of press in the Progress Report, Egemen Bagis stated that there were some draft laws on that issue that the government was trying to transfer to the GNAT.

Minister Bagis also stated that a change in visa policy applied to Turkey, would mostly serve to the interest of Europe.

Summarising the positive evaluations in the report, Bagis stated that the emphasis on National Solidarity and Brotherhood Project and the emphasis on Turkey's being a country where processes in EU standards are discussed easily were the sentences that would influence Turkey's image positively.

Stating that in the report it was emphasized that the constitutional amendment package made Turkey get closer to EU standards, Bagis said that the dialogue among the political actors was very important during the new constitutional process.

Source:AA