GUNTER VERHEUGEN
AB Genişlemeden Sorumlu Komisyoner
European Commissioner

The Challenge Of Enlargement

· and the full adoption of the Community legislation and regulations in various fields of community competence.

On-going negotiations with Cyprus, Hungary, Poland, Estonia, the Czech Republic and Slovenia - let me call it the Luxembourg group - will continue with the same, even with increased momentum. Our objective is to open almost all remaining negotiating chapters with these countries by the end of this year and to continue negotiations on chapters already opened.
We opened accession negotiations with six more candidate countries, namely Romania, Slovakia, Latvia, Lithuania, Bulgaria and Malta on 15 February. By the end of March we will decide on how many chapters to open with each of the newcomers to the negotiation table.
The enlargement strategy, decided at the Helsinki summit as proposed by the European Commission, sets up a flexible, multi-speed accession process. The objective is to ensure that the pace of the negotiations will reflect each candidate country's program in preparing for membership.
This includes the opportunity, for the most advanced of the 'newcomers' to catch up with the others within a reasonable period of time.
When the first accessions will take place will depend entirely on the speed with which applicant countries can make progress on meeting the criteria. And I cannot today make any predictions about who would come when to the finishing line. None the less, we expect that the first wave of the next enlargement will take place before the term of this Commission comes to an end.
The countries of Central and Eastern Europe, Malta, Cyprus and Turkey have already shown their determination and their capacity for change. Their economies are increasingly integrated with that of the Union and huge efforts are being made by all actors, parliaments, governments, the public and private sectors, to prepare for EU membership. As you may know, the EU is actively supporting these efforts through the pre-accession strategies with the candidates and it has set in motion the steps needed to make its own financial and institutional preparation for the accession of new members.
But at the same time the Union itself has to take the necessary measures - inside the Union - to prepare for enlargement. When the merits of enlargement are being debated in our Member States, sceptics say that the process of further integration will come to a halt when even more countries join the Union.
Indeed, institutions that were designed for six members, and which are already reaching their limits now with 15, will certainly not be able to manage a Union of 28 or more countries. The Union must seriously address now the indispensable institutional reforms needed to create an enlarged Union that will work.
Let me give you an idea about the most important problems that need to be resolved:
There is the issue of the passage from unanimity to qualified majority voting. Qualified majority voting should become the general rule, with some exceptions of course, where fundamental decisions are at stake.
Then the question has to be decided what weight bigger and smaller Member States should have in the Council. The current weighting system is deliberately tilted against bigger countries, but if it continues as it is, the lack of balance between population and voting power will become unsustainable. This issue is of particular importance in the perspective of new Members consisting mostly of small or medium-sized countries - only three out of the thirteen candidates have a larger population than the average of the existing Member States.

Thirdly, the Commission must be reformed so that it can operate effectively in a larger Union. My view is that the current number of 20 Commissioners is just about what the system can bear. But I know that it will be difficult to persuade Member States to accept fewer Commissioners than countries.
At the Helsinki summit, Heads of State and Government have stated that the Union should be ready for enlargement from the end of 2002. That means we have to extend and accelerate negotiations while building in safeguards.
There can be no doubt: the Union will only take in countries that clearly meet all the accession criteria.
By now, you might ask the question on Turkey's place in the enlargement process. I will not in detail describe the evolution of relations between the European Union and Turkey.

Sufficient to say that already in 1963, in the EC/Turkey Association Agreement, the possibility of Turkey acceding to the European Community was formally written into its article 28. In addition, since end 1995, Turkey and the EU have a functioning customs union. With no other country, the EU has had such tight economic relations. With no other candidate country the EU has a fully functioning customs union.
What is then the precise implication for Turkey of the decisions taken at the Helsinki summit ?
The European Council stated that - and I quote - "Turkey is a candidate state destined to join the Union on the basis of the same criteria as applied to the other candidate states".
The European Union and Turkey are linked in a strategic partnership. The Union wants to further integrate Turkey into the European structures.
We need Turkey as a reliable partner in foreign and security policy. We want Turkey to be a stable democracy, respecting the rule of law and human rights. Our interest is that Turkey plays a constructive role in our common efforts to contribute to peace and stability in the region.
In other words: It is the Union's intention to accelerate Turkey's integration into the European family, and to support and encourage the ongoing reform process in Turkey.
And I am sure, and I have been reassured in my conversations with many Turkish interlocutors, that Turkey considers the Union to be an attractive partner to shape a common future.
The visible improvement of relations between the two neighbouring countries, Turkey and Greece, has been widely welcomed. And I sincerely hope that this has created a solid basis for further positive developments.
Turkey will benefit from a pre-accession strategy to stimulate and support the reforms in the fields covered by the Copenhagen criteria. This goes well beyond the European Strategy for Turkey which the Union decided upon in 1998. In fact the pre-accession strategy for Turkey is built on the experience with Central and East European countries. It includes an enhanced political dialogue, the participation in Community programmes and agencies, as well as meetings between candidate states and the Union in the context of the accession process.
The centre-piece of the pre-accession strategy is a document the Commission will prepare before end 2000, the Accession Partnership. It will describe, as is the case for the other candidates, the reforms the Commission deems necessary in the short-term - in fact the year 2001 - and in the medium-term, in the political field, the economic field, and as regards the adoption of European legislation.

On the economic front, Turkey could make fast progress now with its clear strategy on structural reforms, backed by the IMF and the World Bank. We do hope that Turkey can further develop social dialogue and active labour market policies to assist the adjustment process. Turkey has a resilient economy and an entrepreneurial people who will all gain from a more balanced and more transparent model of growth based on EU experience.
Regarding political reforms we expect a firm commitment to continue the process which was successfully launched, and to proceed now on issues like the revised penal code, the new civil code, enhanced independence of the judiciary. We understand that there is a great willingness to address also sensitive issues like for instance the freedom of expression.
But let me state clearly here: we have to set realistic objectives. We have to achieve steady and solid progress on all fronts. The pace of change is for the candidate country to decide.
The Union will support Turkey on her way to accession. We will contribute to make effective progress. And we will need close cooperation between the Commission services and Turkey, not only the authorities but also civil society, NGO's and universities, like yours. Indeed, I am convinced that in the huge task ahead, there remains a clear responsibility for the academic community to contribute to bringing Turkey closer to the European Union.
As for Turkey, it is as yet too early to start negotiations. The ground has to be properly prepared. Full compliance with the political criteria of Copenhagen is, like for all candidates, a pre-condition for the start of negotiations.
One aspect of the Helsinki conclusions is particularly relevant for the academic community and other education establishments, namely the participation of Turkey in Community programmes.
There is indeed no better way to come to grips with various aspects of EU legislation or to create better understanding between students and researchers of the Member States and the candidate countries than by learning, studying and researching together.

There are many programmes in which Turkey can and will participate, but I think that the three programmes in the educational, training and youth fields - Leonardo, Socrates and Youth for Europe - are of particular importance. The Commission services are working on measures to prepare Turkey's participation, in order to ensure that Turkish institutions can obtain full benefits from their future participation. Clearly, institutions of higher learning like this University could play a key role in deepening co-operation between Turkey and the EU Member States.
We have behind us a decade of change that nobody would have dreamt of only 15 years ago.
In the European Union, we moved from 10 to 15 Member States. We had three far-reaching changes to the Treaty of Rome. The Euro emerged. We are acting on jobs, economic reforms, security and justice.
Outside, we saw the end of the divisions created in Yalta and Potsdam, the failure of communism and centrally planned economies. This reminds us that we should be ambitious. Ambitious in bringing the people of Europe closer together in peace, prosperity and security.
The successful integration of new members into the Union should provide new dynamism and strengthen stability throughout Europe. Europe needs Turkey for the many reasons I have explained earlier. I therefore hope that close cooperation will result in serious progress on all fronts on Turkey's road to EU accession.

GUNTER VERHEUGEN: "GENİŞLEMEN‹N ZORLUKLARI"
Genişleme konusu AB'nin ve Konsey'in önündeki en önemli ve kilit meselesidir.
AB'nin bundan sonraki genişlemesi Birlik adına çok önemli değişiklikleri de beraberinde getirecektir. Üye ülke sayısı artacak, daha önce Birlik gündeminde olmayan konular görüşülecektir.
Berlin duvarının yıkılmasının ardından milliyetçiliğin, ırkçılığın ve etnik kökenli şiddetin yolaçtığı yaraların sarılması ve Avrupa halklarını biraraya getirme adına çok büyük adımlar atma imkanı doğmuştur.
Balkanlarda olup bitenler barış ve istikrarın önemini bir kez daha ortaya koymuştur. Bunları sağlamanın yolu ise ortak kural ve değerlere saygılı olmaktır. Bu değerler için mücadele ettiğimizi unutmamalıyız. Bu çerçevede gereksiz sözler verilmemeli, demagoji yapılmamalıdır.
Boğaziçi Üniversitesi, bilginin serbestçe kullanılmasını sağlayarak, tartışma ve araştırma ortamları yaratarak bu süreçte önemli bir rol üstlenebilir.

Farklı kültürlerden gelen insanların birarada yaşamasını sağlamada eğitimin önemli payı bulunmaktadır. Genişleme süreci Kopenhag kriterlerine dayalı olmaya devam edecektir. Bu kriterlerin farklı boyutları vardır. Siyasi boyut; demokrasi, insan hakları, hukukun üstünlüğü, azınlıkların korunması.
Ekonomik boyut; işleyen bir piyasa ekonomisi ve iç piyasalardan kaynaklanan baskılara direnme kabiliyeti. Topluluk mevzuatının bütünüyle ve her alanda benimsenmesi.
Kıbrıs, Macaristan, Polonya, Estonya, Çek Cumhuriyeti ve Slovenya ile görüşmeler devam etmektedir. Romanya, Slovakya, Letonya, Bulgaristan ve Malta ile üyelik görüşmeleri başlatılmıştır.
Türkiye de bu çerçevedeki kararlılığını diğer ülkelerle birlikte göstermiştir.
AB, üyelik öncesi yapılan çalışmaları desteklemekte, atılması gereken adımlar konusunda yardımcı olmaktadır. Ancak Birlik'in de bu çerçevede alması gereken önlemler bulunmaktadır.
Bu anlamda çözülmesi gereken sorunlar arasında, oylama biçimlerine ilişkin değişiklikler, üye ülkelerin Konsey içindeki ağırlığı ve komisyonda yapılması gereken değişiklikler bulunmaktadır.

Helsinki Zirvesi'nde Avrupa Birliği'nin 2002 yılının sonu itibariyle genişleme için hazırlıklarının tamamlanması gerektiği dile getirilmiştir. Hiç şüphesiz ki yalnızca üyelik kriterlerini yerine getiren ülkeler Birlik'e alınacaktır. Türkiye'nin genişleme süreci içindeki yerine gelecek olursak, bilindiği gibi Türkiye-AB arasında işlemekte olan Gümrük Birliği mevcuttur. Helsinki Zirvesi'nde alınan kararlar uyarınca diğer aday ülkeler için geçerli kriterler Türkiye için de geçerli olacaktır. Avrupa , Türkiye'nin istikrarlı bir demokrasiye kavuşmasını, hukukun üstünlüğüne ve insan haklarına saygı duymasını istemektedir. Türkiye'nin, bölgenin istikrarı ve barışı için yapıcı bir rol üstlenecek olması Avrupa'nın da menfaatinedir. Türkiye'deki reform süreci Avrupa tarafından desteklenmektedir. Türkiye de Avrupa Birliği'ni kendi geleceği açısından önemli bulmaktadır.

Türk-Yunan ilişkilerinde yaşanan gelişmeler ümit vericidir. Türkiye için belirlenen üyelik öncesi stratejinin en önemli boyutu, 2000 yılı bitmeden Komisyon tarafından hazırlanacak olan Üyelik Ortaklığı dökümanıdır. Burada Türkiye'nin üyelik için kısa ve orta vadede yapması gerekenler belirtilecektir.
Türkiye başlatmış olduğu ekonomik ve siyasi reformları sürdürmelidir. Belirlenen hedefler gerçekçi olmalıdır. Avrupa Birliği, üyeliğe hazırlanış sürecinde Türkiye'ye destek olacaktır. Bu süreçte akademik kurumlara ve sivil toplum kuruluşlarına da büyük iş düşmektedir. Görüşmelere başlamak için henüz erken bir dönemdeyiz. Kopenhag kriterlerinin tamamiyle yerine getirilmesi bütün aday ülkeler için olduğu gibi Türkiye için de gereklidir.
Türkiye'nin, komisyonun düzenlediği eğitim, araştırma ve gençlik faaliyetlerine katılması için gereken çalışmalar yapılacaktır. Türkiye ve AB ülkeleri arasındaki ilişkilerin geliştirilmesi konusunda üniversitelere iş düşmektedir. Avrupa'da hiçbirimizin daha önceden kestiremeyeceği gelişmeler olmakta. Bu gelişmeler bizlere daima istekli olmamız ve Avrupa'da yaşayan insanların barış, refah ve istikrarı için daha çok çalışmamız gerektiğini hatırlatmaktadır.
Avrupa Birliği, Avrupa'nın istikrarı için Türkiye'ye ihtiyaç duymaktadır. ‹şbirliğimizin Türkiye'nin AB üyeliği yolunda atacağı adımları hızlandırmasını dilerim.


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