EU Accession Report

Amid preparations for a new committee on the future of the EU which may try to determine where Europe's frontiers should lie and how much further the bloc should expand, the EU Commission's annual progress report is set to chide Ankara for its lack of progress on reforms.

Almost one year after the EU partially froze Turkey's membership talks, the report -- due to be released next week -- urges Turkey "to renew the momentum of political reforms" and states that "significant further efforts are needed in particular on freedom of expression, on civilian control of the military, and on the rights of non-Muslim communities."

Turkey chastized on freedom of speech

The EU suspended eight chapters of Turkey's 35-chapter EU negotiations package last year, citing Ankara's continuing blockade on traffic from EU member state Cyprus - which is illegal under an EU-Turkey customs agreement – as its main reason. Turkey has made "no progress on normalizing bilateral relations" with Nicosia since then, the draft report states.

The EU is also concerned about the continued restrictions in freedom of speech and concludes that "the Turkish legal system does not fully guarantee freedom of expression in line with European standards".

The number of prosecutions of journalists, intellectuals and human rights activists for expressing non-violent opinions is on the rise. The number of people prosecuted almost doubled in 2006 from 2005 and there were further increases in 2007.

More than half of these cases were brought under the Turkish Penal Code and many of those under article 301 which makes it an offense to insult "Turkishness." Together with the murder of a journalist, Hrant Dink, this has helped create a climate of self-censorship the draft document says.

EU worries about Turkish military

Brussels is also unhappy about the fact that "the armed forces continue to exercise significant political influence," in Turkey and that "no progress" had been seen in the area of protection of minorities and ensuring cultural diversity in line with EU principles.

The draft takes an even-handed approach on the Kurdish issue saying that Turkey made "no progress in the area of cultural rights." However it notes that the PKK separatist group is on the EU's terrorist list and talks of a "further deterioration of the situation in terms of attacks by the PKK and other terrorist groups."

Public opinion across the EU is hardening against Turkey's EU membership bid and President Nicolas Sarkozy of France leads a group of countries opposed to full EU membership for Turkey, preferring a looser association with Ankara instead.

Macedonia not on track either

The report, which covers the whole enlargement process, also said EU accession talks with Macedonia are unlikely to begin before 2009 at the earliest, dashing Skopje's hopes of them starting next year, due to political problems in the former Yugoslav republic, an EU source said on Tuesday.

"They lost a lot of time this year when (the main ethnic Albanian party) was out of parliament. They still need to work better on political dialogue to have a climate conducive for reforms," the source told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Macedonia was officially made a candidate for membership in 2005, four years after an accord brokered by the EU and NATO ended a stand-off between the majority Macedonian and minority Albanian communities which threatened to plunge the country into civil war.

The EU insisted that entry talks could only begin when it was satisfied with Macedonia's progress on the rule of law, the rights of the Albanian minority and the fight against organized crime and corruption.

The Commission report is expected to cite the absence of dialogue with the Albanian community, the politicization of the civil service and the blockage of key judicial reforms as its reasons for halting the talks.

EU cites corruption, slow progress on law reform

A report in Macedonia's leading newspaper, Dnevnik, quoted the draft European Commission report as saying that "several laws are still blocked, especially judicial reform" and that "corruption is widespread and a serious problem".

The continued quarreling between the government and the opposition party representing the country's large ethnic Albanian minority, the mass sackings of civil servants after the change of government in 2006 and the divisions between Macedonia's president and prime minister are also cited by the draft report as being problematic, the paper wrote.

There was also a reference to the dispute between Macedonia and Greece over the country's name. According to Dnevnik, the EU report urged to renew the two countries to resolve their differences which arise from Greece's opposition over the use of the name "Macedonia", which is also the name of Greece's northern province. Athens considers its use a sign of territorial ambition. The neighbors have been involved in UN-led talks for a compromise since 1993, with little progress.

Croatia's EU future in its own hands

Accession negotiations with Croatia have reached full cruising speed, with talks under way on 14 of the 35 chapters but the Commission draft warns Zagreb that the progress of its membership bid is entirely in its own hands.

The reports states that Croatia needs to move faster on reforming its judiciary and fighting corruption while the continuing problem of state aid to industry remains an issue. However, the report says that democracy and the rule of law have been strengthened and macroeconomic stability maintained.

Croatia started EU accession talks in 2005 along with Turkey but has forged ahead and is the only candidate likely to make it to the 27-nation bloc in the next five years, according to EU sources.