Turkey - EU Accession Partnership

On the basis of the political agreement reached by the Council on 12 December 2005, the Council adopted a Decision on the principles, priorities and conditions contained in the accession partnership with Turkey (15671/05).

The revised Accession Partnership is an important document to focus Turkey's preparations for accession and to adapt priorities to the evolving needs. The revised Accession Partnership includes a set of priorities which relate to Turkey's capacity to meet the criteria defined by the Copenhagen European Council of 1993 and the requirements of the negotiating framework adopted by the Council on 3 October 2005. These priorities, which concern both legislation and the implementation thereof, have been selected on the basis that it is realistic to expect that Turkey can complete or take them substantially forward over the next few years. A distinction is made between short-term priorities, which are expected to be accomplished within one or two years, and medium-term priorities, which are expected to be accomplished within three to four years.

On 3 October, the Member States started negotiations with Turkey on its accession to the EU. The advancement of the negotiations will be guided by Turkey's progress in preparing for accession, which will be measured, inter alia, against the implementation of the Accession Partnership, as regularly revised.

Accession Partnerships with Turkey were adopted by the Council in 2001 and 2003. The Commission's 2004 recommendation on Turkey stressed that a revised Accession Partnership should be proposed in 2005. In December 2004, the European Council also concluded that the EU would continue to monitor closely progress of the political reforms on the basis of an Accession Partnership setting out priorities for the reform process.

Turkey is now expected to develop a plan with a timetable and specific measures to address the priorities of the Accession Partnership.

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