Laurent Fabius waarschuwt dat Turks lidmaatschap de EU zal verlammen (en)

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - While centre-right French politicians are strongly questioning the readiness of Turkey to enter the EU, a prominent French figure on the left has warned that Turkish accession might seriously harm the EU's decision-making capacity.

Laurent Fabius, a socialist former French Prime Minister and currently a member of the French parliament, stated yesterday (28 April) while speaking at the Centre for European Policy Studies in Brussels that the functioning of the EU will be brought to a stalemate if Turkey, a country of almost 68 million inhabitants, is allowed to become a member.

Referring to the proposals on qualified majority voting in the Draft European Constitution - where size of population is a key factor - Mr Fabius said that Turkey could block an EU decision in 70 percent of the cases.

The French socialist said that Turkey could only become an EU member in the future if the EU institutions were reformed first. He characterised the proposals for institutional reform in the Draft Constitution as "insufficient".

Consequently, Mr Fabius stated that after a possible adoption of the Constitution, a new round of institutional reforms was needed before an accession of Turkey was possible.

But the Frenchman seemed to admit that this would take many years, as he also stressed that additional institutional changes would be extremely difficult. Once adopted, any change of the Constitution would again require the consent of all EU member states.

Multi-speed Europe

Mr Fabius concluded that "for the time being" Turkey should be placed in the category of states surrounding the enlarged European Union in the east and south, including Russia, Ukraine and Northern African countries.

He characterised these EU neighbouring states as the "third circle" of Europe, while the "first circle" of Europe would be formed by the euro zone countries, and the "second circle" by the rest of the EU.

In Mr Fabius' vision of a multi-speed Europe, the euro zone countries of the "first circle" should strive for much deeper integration, particularly regarding co-ordination of economic policies and a united defense. This would entitle them to carry the exclusive name "United Europe".

The EU countries of the "second circle" which cannot or do not want to share this " projet voluntariste ", as Mr Fabius termed it, should not be allowed to block further integration by the "first circle".

Meanwhile, Mr Fabius encouraged France and Germany to take the lead in creating the "United Europe" by merging their armies into one army as soon as possible.