The European Council – comprising the Heads of State and Government of the 25 Member States – decided unanimously in December 2004 to open accession negotiations with Turkey on 3 October 2005, provided certain strict conditions were met. These conditions were met, and the EU has accordingly honoured its commitment.

The recent geopolitical developments has strengthened Turkey's strategic role as a secular and democratic partner of the EU in the unstable Middle East neighbouring region. Turkey plays a moderating role in this region. Continuing reforms in Turkey on the way to the EU will strengthen Turkish stabilising role in the relations between the EU and its neighbours and will thus contribute to our security.

From the economic point of view, Turkey will increase the EU market. A bigger market is a stimulus to growth, exports and job creation. Turkey would have a major role to play in the security of energy supply of the enlarged EU, since it would have at its borders the most energy-rich regions on the planet. Turkish accession could help secure access to these resources and their safe transportation into the EU.

Turkey’s accession would also have an important impact on several transport modes. Its role as a corridor for road, rail, air and maritime pipeline connections between Europe and its southern neighbourhood would be strengthened. Turkey’s accession would represent a big challenge in terms of border management, but at the same time, it will enhance cooperation vis-à-vis organised crime, people trafficking, drug trafficking and illegal migration.

The Commission's 2006 progress report provides a fair and balanced picture of the situation, based on a comprehensive range of sources. The reforms of past years are starting to bear fruit. They are increasingly implemented by the judiciary, in areas such as ill-treatment and women's rights for example. The democratic debate has increased and Turkish citizens are becoming increasingly aware of their rights. These are positive signs, which allow the conclusion that Turkey continues to sufficiently fulfil the political criteria.

However, the pace of reforms has slowed during the past year. Individuals continue to be prosecuted for their opinions, and the revised Penal Code needs to be amended to adequately protect freedom of expression. Efforts should also be made in the areas of freedom of religion and economic and social rights, in particular women's and trade union rights. There is a need for Turkey to address the serious economic and social problems of the South East and ensure full enjoyment of rights and freedoms by the Kurdish population. Additional efforts need to be made to strengthen civilian control over the military.

The answer depends largely on Turkey itself, and on the speed at which it meets the EU's conditions for membership. In any case, it will not be a rapid process, because Turkey will have to make many adjustments before then, and the EU will also have to make adequate preparations so that Turkish accession is smooth and successful. Accession will not take place before 2014.

No. Accession is never guaranteed or automatic for any EU candidate country, and Turkey is no exception. Like every candidate, it will have to demonstrate that it meets the conditions for membership.

But as for every candidate, the EU negotiations will be fair and rigorous, and Turkey will be given every opportunity to show that it is capable of meeting all conditions for accession. And the process is explicitly based on the goal of membership: "The shared objective of the negotiations is accession." The eventual decision will be made on the merits of the case.

The negotiations started with the 'screening' exercise. This aims to explain the EU legislation and the structures needed for its implementation to Turkey, to assess what are the issues which need to be adapted in the Turkish legislation and which structures Turkey needs to set up to implement the EU legislation.

On the technical level, the first year of negotiations went according to plan. Commenced on 20 Oct 2005, the series of 66 screening meetings plus one on the Lisbon Strategy has been completed on 13 October this year. 2000 Turkish civil servants have come to Brussels to take part in the screening meetings. Turkey has provided sound and exhaustive presentations. The Commission has presented screening reports in the Council for over a third of all chapters. More will follow in autumn 2006 and in 2007. On two chapters Turkey has been invited to present its Negotiation Position, and one of these chapters (Science and Research) has been provisionally closed on 12 June by the Accession Conference.

In July 2005 Turkey signed the Additional Protocol extending the EC-Turkey Association Agreement to the ten new Member States. However, since then it has not implemented it to Cyprus. Turkey has continued to deny access to its ports to vessels flying the Republic of Cyprus flag or where the last port of call is in Cyprus. As stated in their September 2005 declaration: ”Failure to implement Turkish obligations in full will affect the overall progress in the negotiations". Member states will review the implementation of the protocol of the Ankara Agreement in the course of 2006. The Commission will continue to insist with the Turkish authorities that in order to avoid all possible consequences on the accession process, Turkey needs to meet its contractual obligation to implement the Ankara Protocol fully.