Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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There are five countries that currently have candidate status and have applied to join the European Union: Turkey, Iceland, Montenegro, Serbia and Macedonia, each of which is at a different stage in its relations with the EU:

Turkey has been a candidate since 1999 and is currently in accession negotiations with the European Union. Following the agreement reached in June under the Irish Presidency, a new chapter in Turkey’s accession negotiations was formally opened for the first time in three years at an inter-Governmental Conference in November. To date, some fourteen chapters have been opened in the negotiations.

Montenegro has been a candidate since 2010 and began accession negotiations in 2012. These negotiations are continuing, with seven negotiating chapters now opened, of which two have been provisionally closed. Two key chapters relating to the judiciary, fundamental rights and justice, freedom and security were opened last month .

Iceland is still officially a candidate for EU membership, although accession negotiations are currently on hold, following a decision of the Icelandic government last year.

Serbia has been a candidate since 2011 and is scheduled to open accession negotiations later this month with the European Union.

Macedonia has been a candidate since 2005 but has yet to start accession negotiations. In December, the General Affairs Council concluded:

“With a view to a possible decision of the European Council to open accession negotiations with the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the Council will revert to the issue in 2014, on the basis of an update by the Commission on further implementation of reforms in the context of the High Level Accession Dialogue, including the implementation of the 1 March political agreement and on tangible steps taken to promote good neighbourly relations and to reach a negotiated and mutually accepted solution to the name issue.”

Finally with regard to Albania, which applied to join the European Union in 2009 and is currently seeking candidate status, the General Affairs Council last December concluded that:

“on the understanding that Albania continues to build on the encouraging progress

made so far, the Council looks forward to a decision regarding granting candidate status to Albania in June 2014, subject to endorsement by the European Council.”

Neither Kosovo nor Bosnia Herzegovina has yet applied to join the European Union. However, both are on a path towards deeper relations with the EU. Kosovo is in negotiations with the EU on a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA). Bosnia has already negotiated an SAA with the EU, although this has yet to come into effect.

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Turkey has been a candidate for EU membership since 1999 and has been in accession negotiations since 2005. There are currently fourteen chapters open in the negotiations and one provisionally closed. During the Irish Presidency last year, we laid the groundwork for the opening of the latest chapter, Chapter 22 on regional policy, the first chapter to be opened in three years.

While I have not had discussions on the matter recently with members of the Turkish Government the matter was last discussed among EU Member States at the General Affairs Council on 17 December 2013, when Council Conclusions on Turkey were adopted, assessing progress to date and setting out the EU’s strategy for the period ahead. In those Conclusions, the Council reaffirmed the importance it attaches to EU relations with Turkey and stated that “t he EU should remain the anchor for reforms in Turkey”.

In terms of the future of the accession negotiations, the EU stated that “Turkey will be able to accelerate the pace of negotiations by advancing in the fulfillment of benchmarks, meeting the requirements of the Negotiating Framework and by respecting its contractual obligations towards the EU.”

The Council welcomed the important progress on reforms made in Turkey during 2013 and further encouraged work on reforms to provide “adequate checks and balances fully guaranteeing freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities” and called for further sustained efforts particularly as regards improving the observance of fundamental rights and freedoms in law and in practice in Turkey. The Council took note of the important regional role played by Turkey, especially with regard to Syrian refugees and reiterated EU support for the ongoing peace process launched with regard to the situation in the South East of Turkey. The Council welcomed the signing of the readmission agreement with the European Union in December, as well as the start of the dialogue between the EU and Turkey on visa liberalisation.

The EU called on Turkey to commit itself unequivocally to good neighbourly relations noting “with deep regret” that Turkey, despite repeated calls, has not yet fulfilled its obligation of full, non-discriminatory implementation of the Additional Protocol to the Association Agreement towards all Member States.

Finally, the EU called on Turkey to “actively support the ongoing negotiations aimed at a fair, comprehensive and viable settlement of the Cyprus problem within the UN framework.”