"Commission raps Ankara over protocol
By Myria Antoniadou in Brussels
THE European Commission has made it abundantly clear to Turkey that it cannot annex a statement that it does not recognise the Republic of Cyprus to the protocol extending the Ankara Agreement (customs union) to all 25 member states. It has given assurances to the Cyprus government to this effect, sources told the Cyprus Mail.
As a consequence, it is expected that Turkey will issue a bilateral statement to this effect, which is not legally binding and expresses no one other than Ankara, as it did when it signed the European Constitution in Rome last year.
However, the EU�s executive has not managed to convince the Turkish government to implement the Protocol and not wait until its ratification by the country�s parliament.
Without ratification, the agreement cannot be implemented, even if Prime Minister Erdogan signs the Protocol, a move expected in September, only a few weeks before Turkey begins accession negotiations on October 3.
Diplomatic sources did not rule out the possibility of some big member states proposing to overcome this problem by recommending a �vague time-frame� by which the Protocol would have to be ratified, some time in 2006.
The majority of member states do not want to open a public discussion on Turkey�s behaviour and its EU accession course, concerned it may have a negative effect on the Constitution referendum to take place in France, in May. If Europe�s first Constitution does not go through even in one country then the planning on how the enlarged Union will operate will fall through."
More:Commission raps Ankara over protocol
By Myria Antoniadou in Brussels
