TURKEY:The first round of a two-week diplomatic battle over Turkey's attempt to join the EU ended in Brussels last night with France registering a symbolic victory.
EU foreign ministers agreed to omit the words "accession" and "membership" from a key statement on the bloc's enlargement strategy regarding Turkey, after a fortnight of intense political pressure exerted from Paris.
French president Nicolas Sarkozy, who is implacably opposed to Turkey's bid to join the EU, had refused to allow the statement to refer to "accession conferences", the usual wording for talks with candidate nations Turkey and Croatia. Sweden and Britain had supported retaining the terms.
Turkey began negotiations for membership in 2005 but has faced lengthy delays as countries including France and Cyprus object to the opening of new chapters in the talks.
Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildt, who is a strong proponent of Turkey joining the union, said yesterday that the final text of the EU statement remained "in line with the enlargement strategy" agreed by European leaders a year ago at an EU summit.
But the clash between France and Sweden is likely to be just the first in a succession of disputes over Turkey's membership of the union. Pro-accession states such as Britain believe Turkey should join the union to act as a bridge with Islam, while Mr Sarkozy and German chancellor Angela Merkel support a "privileged partnership".
Meanwhile, EU foreign ministers backed the European Commission's strategy for introducing new trade deals with Africa, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) states by a January 1st deadline. The economic partnership agreements will replace a decades-old preferential trade agreement between the EU and ACP, which enabled poor former colonial countries to sell their goods on the European market.
But some African states and non-governmental agencies such as Oxfam complain that forcing countries to sign economic partnership agreements by this deadline could hurt their economies.
Several states have failed to sign EPA deals, which means their companies and agricultural producers could face punitive tariffs and quotas from January 1st.
Ireland, Britain and the Netherlands failed in an attempt to force the commission to offer alternatives to the January 1st deadline.