The French do it again

Apparently the French were quietly decided on opening two chapters under their presidency to avoid criticism from Turkey and its friends in Europe, that they reflected President Sarkozy’s objection to Ankara’s EU bid. It seems that the French presidency did not have to deal with any problems as far as the chapter on media and information society is concerned.

The same however is not true of the free circulation of capital chapter. Turkey’s strategy on how it will deal with money laundering did not in the beginning satisfy Brussels. The Greek Cypriots also, as usual, did not refrain from creating an obstruction. As it was just becoming difficult to overcome the problems, the French have even started to mull the idea of opening another chapter, the one on energy for instance.

But the Greek Cypriots have backed down, the Turkish side has offered some more clarification on the fight against money laundering and finally everything is set to start negotiations on two chapters by mid-December.

Apparently Brussels has accepted Turkey’s request for a 12-year transition period on the acquisition of land and property by foreigners. It is the first time Turkey has asked for a transition period. This way, EU rules and regulations for the acquisition of land and property by foreigners will not be valid for at least 12 years after Turkey becomes a member. The same transition period has been granted to new member countries like Poland for instance.

After providing all this information, I was about to begin writing on how France kept its word that it will have an objective presidency as far as Turkey is concerned and that it will not use it as an opportunity to obstruct Turkish negotiation process. But news coming from Brussels changed the direction of my commentary.

Apparently France’s allergy to the word "accession," which implies membership to the EU, has recurred again. The word "accession" is one more time omitted from the paragraph in the final communique of the foreign ministers meeting next week. But the French have gone one step further.

The Turkish diplomats have also learned that the enlargement paragraph will all together be omitted from the declaration of the meeting of EU heads of states next Thursday. The sad thing about it is that no one in Turkey will react to this development. Probably it will even be barely noticed. The level of frustration has reached such a level that there will be complete indifference.

By the end of this year, 10 chapters will have been opened for negotiations. Entry talks on 12 chapters cannot start due to the Cyprus problem and the French veto. As for the rest of the remaining 10 or so chapters, the Turkish side is not technically ready to start negotiations.

This will mean that even the accession process will come to a stand still by next year. I don’t think that will make the EU unhappy. Well the government seems not to worry about it. For the EU, this will mean a slow down for Turkey’s accession. For the AKP government this will mean getting rid of outside pressure for more reform. Both will take it as a win-win situation. But in reality, it is a lose-lose situation.