Croatia to leap ahead of Turkey

Croatia is set to widen further the gap with Turkey in its progress towards EU membership next week (26 June) when it opens talks on six new areas of EU law.

It is still not clear though whether the German presidency of the EU will win support to open talks with Turkey on three new chapters.

Both France and Cyprus have questioned plans to open talks with Turkey on economic and monetary policy. EU officials said that there were doubts that talks would go ahead next week on statistics and financial control.

EU ambassadors will hold a special session next Monday (25 June) to finalise which areas they are prepared to negotiate with Turkey.

French officials said last week that there was no point opening discussions on economic and monetary policy as "Turkey would never join the euro".

But the German presi-dency is keen to start talks on three new areas as a sign that Ankara still has a realistic chance of joining the EU.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has said that Turkey has "no place in the EU" and has promised to honour his pledge that Turkey should be offered a privileged partnership as an alternative to full member-ship. He has also suggested that Turkey could join a Mediterranean Union.

Sarkozy has promised to announce his new approach to Turkey only in December in an effort to avoid new divisions which might damage plans to agree a new treaty.

Next Tuesday the EU is planning to open negotiations with Croatia on financial control, statistics, services, company law, fin-ancial services and infor-mation society and media at a meeting in Luxembourg.

Croatia has already closed negotiations on two chapters (science and research, and education and culture) and opened talks on four others (intellectual property law, economic and monetary policy, enterprise and industrial policy, and customs union).

Turkey has opened talks on science and research - which was closed last year - and industrial affairs.

The EU froze negotiations on eight chapters in December 2006 after Turkey failed to open its ports and airports to planes and vessels from the Greek part of Cyprus as it refuses to recognise that part of the island.

Croatia is set to widen further the gap with Turkey in its progress towards EU membership next week (26 June) when it opens talks on six new areas of EU law.