A critical week; Vienna the only barrier to October 3 start talks

It appears that the only barrier between now and the start of the October 3 EU accession talks for Turkey is Vienna. The makeup of the roadmap for the talks, or the Accession Talks Framework Document, has taken shape. The only thing left to face is Austria's request that the choice of "priviliged partnership" be added to the document which will guide the talks. Austria's persistence with this particular request is widely perceived to be a play to get a promise on the start up of EU accession talks for Croatia, which were themselves postponed awhile ago. The attention of the EU, which last week agreed finally on the "Cyprus Declaration," is expected to focus this week on the working of the Accession Talks Framework Document. The subject will be the main ingredients for a September 29 meeting in Brussels. If there is no agreement reached then, EU ministers will come together on the morning of October 3 to meet and agree finally. Turkey's insistence on actually seeing the document prior to the start of the October 3 talks has put EU term president England in an uncomfortable position.  The Euopean Parliament, meanwhile, is expected tomorrow to approve the additional protocol signed by both Turkey and the EU. The European Parliament will hold a special session on Turkey, and will vote on the parliament's "recommendation" of Turkey for EU membership. It is also expected that England's Foreign Minister, Jack Straw, who will speak at the opening of the October 3 accession talks, will touch on the "Cyrpus Declaration" in his speech.Â