Accession Partnership

We plan to submit the first accession partnership in the autumn of this year.

As with all the other candidate countries, the priorities for Turkey have also been set out in an accession partnership.

We have also expressed this unequivocally in the accession partnership with Turkey.

Secondly, we were pleased that the accession partnerships could be adopted on 24 March.

A considerable number of the priorities and objectives in the accession partnership have to do precisely with human rights.

We believe that a major breakthrough has been made through development of the accession partnership with the ten candidate countries from central and eastern Europe.

Two elements of the proposed Accession Partnership have reinforced this decision.

My question is, what is there in the accession partnership document about the rights of the Kurds?

I would remind you that the Accession Partnership must be reviewed in the coming months.

One is no doubt that the Accession Partnership is now working in all its aspects.

These accession partnerships are the very cornerstone of the inclusive enlargement process which Parliament has called for.

In practical terms this means that the Foundation should be involved in the implementation of the accession partnerships.

The accession partnerships outline the programmes and their financing.

This was a specific priority under the Accession Partnership with Turkey.

This clearly reflects the all-inclusiveness of the process because that accession partnership model applies to every candidate.

The next step must be the national plan, published quickly and fully responding to the Accession Partnership programme.

We secured European Union approval of the terms of the accession partnerships.

Fourthly, the assistance to be provided through the accession partnership will be conditional.

Madam, I regret to have to tell you that the accession partnership with Turkey was not the subject of today's discussions.

The Council formally adopted the accession partnership with Turkey on 8 March 2000.

Let me repeat, the issue is not "whether" there should be an Accession Partnership and pre-accession strategy, but "how".

The Accession Partnership sets out our expectations of Turkey.

As we know, the Council adopted the Accession Partnership on 8 March 2001.

Most of these issues are covered in the Accession Partnership as short-term priorities that Turkey needs to meet.

The Council has also given the European Parliament a considerable role in the context of the accession partnership, after all.