Fourth meeting of the Accession Conference at ministerial level with Turkey

The fourth meeting of the Intergovernmental Accession Conference with Turkey at ministerial level was held today in Brussels, following the start of accession negotiations on 3 October 2005. The Head of the European Union Delegation was Luis Amado, Portugal's Foreign Minister and current President of the Council. The Turkish delegation was led by Ali Babacan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Chief Negotiator.

The aim of the Conference was to open negotiations on two further new chapters (both with closing benchmarks), namely:

Chapter 21 - Trans-European Networks and Chapter 28
- Consumer and Health Protection thus advancing the negotiating process in accordance with the Council conclusions of 10 December 2007.

For both chapters, and on the basis of negotiating positions, the Union has closely examined Turkey's general state of preparedness in these areas. Taking into account Turkey's present state of preparations, and in line with the Council conclusions on 11 December 2006 - as well as on the understanding that Turkey will continue to make progress in the alignment with and implementation of the acquis - the EU underlined main issues regarding the closing benchmarks to be met by Turkey, namely that Turkey has to fulfil its obligation of full non-discriminatory implementation of the Additional Protocol to the Association Agreement, and further that:

Chapter 21 - Trans-European Networks
- Turkey and the European Commission have agreed on the future TEN-T network according to the Decision No 1692/96/EC as amended and on a priority project of European Interest in the framework of this TEN-T network.

Chapter 28 - Consumer and Health Protection
- Turkey should revise its legislation on general product safety, further amend its legislation on consumer protection and also demonstrate that adequate administrative structures and enforcement capacity, such as the necessary means to participate in the Community's Rapid Alert System (RAPEX), will be put in place.

- In the field of communicable diseases, Turkey needs to demonstrate that adequate institutional and administrative capacity will be put in place.

- Turkey should adopt the legislation aiming at transposing the Commission implementing directives in the area of technical requirements for blood and blood components, traceability requirements and notification of serious adverse reactions and events and of a quality system for blood establishments.

- Turkey should also adopt the legislation aiming at transposing the acquis on tissues and cells.

- Turkey should achieve substantive progress in transposing the tobacco product regulation acquis as well as the tobacco advertising acquis.

In more general terms, the EU also underlined that it would devote particular attention to monitoring all specific issues mentioned in its common positions with a view to ensuring Turkey's administrative capacity and its capacity to complete legal alignment in all the areas under both chapters.

The Union will monitor closely Turkey's progress in these two chapters throughout the negotiations. Since the start of the negotiations, six chapters have been opened, of which one has been provisionally closed.

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