Select Committee on European Union Minutes of Evidence


Letter from Dr Denis MacShane MP, Minister for Europe, Foreign and Commonwealth Office

EVIDENCE SESSION (THURSDAY 11 NOVEMBER 2004)

  I attended an evidence session with your Committee on Thursday 11 November, but due to time constraints was not able to answer two questions. I am writing to provide answers to these questions.

QUESTION 1

"What is the EU doing to promote democratic accountability for the new neighbours, in particular in Belarus and the Ukraine?"

  The EU's Partnership and Co-operation Agreement with the Ukraine highlights respect for shared fundamental values as an essential element of the EU-Ukraine relationship. The European Neighbourhood Policy seeks to extend the promotion of these values by offering Ukraine a privileged relationship with the EU in return for progress on internal reform, including the development of democracy.

  Ukraine's Action Plan under the European Neighbourhood Policy will soon be completed. It will set out priority areas for reform, including the rule of law, freedom of the media, freedom of expression, greater respect for human rights, independence of the judiciary and the conduct of democratic elections in accordance with OSCE and Council of Europe norms and standards. This programme of reform will be supported by an increase in financial support, and rewarded by further integration into European economic and social structures.

  Subsequent to the evidence session, you will be aware that the situation after the Presidential election in Ukraine remains uncertain. The Foreign Secretary made a statement on Tuesday 23 October urging the Ukrainian authorities to cooperate with the OSCE to ensure that all proper procedures, including legal challenges to the results, are fully followed before declaring a final result. The Ukrainian authorities should investigate all allegations of fraud to ensure that the result reflects the democratic will of the Ukrainian people. We will closely monitor the situation with our EU partners. [1]

  The EU's relations with Belarus stalled in 1997 due to serious setbacks in the democratic development of the country, which included the replacement of the elected parliament with a national assembly nominated by the President, repression of the opposition and the media, and interference with the judiciary. Since 1997, the EU has repeatedly attempted to overcome this situation through a step-by-step approach, offering the gradual reinstatement of relations in return for democratic progress. These approaches have been rejected by the regime in Belarus.

  The EU remains committed to the democratic development of Belarus. Given the nature of the regime in Belarus, the EU aims to achieve this by increasing support for civil society and the opposition through its assistance programmes, including TACIS (Technical Aid for the CIS). The EU is also looking at how to target these assistance programmes more effectively. The EU will continue to call on Belarus to reverse its present policies and to stop harassing political parties, the independent media, NGOs and academic institutions. The EU will also support the European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights, which is committed to re-engaging in Belarus from 2005.

QUESTION 2

"The European Council will decide on 17 December whether to open membership negotiations with Turkey. Does the Government have "red line issues" that would affect the decision to open negotiations; or the course of the possible negotiations?"

  The European Council decision on whether to open accession negotiations will be based on whether Turkey has met the Copenhagen political criteria. The Commission assessment, which we share, is that it has. Turkey has made remarkable progress over the last two years, putting in place the necessary constitutional, legislative and other reforms. Whilst there are still shortcomings in some areas (particularly implementation), we are confident these can be dealt with during the negotiation process.

  The European Council has previously agreed that Turkey should be judged on the same basis as other candidates. We agree with this approach. We believe that Turkey must satisfy the same criteria for membership as other EU candidates and that it should neither receive special treatment nor be discriminated against.

  The enlargement process is not set in stone. It needs to evolve and learn lessons from previous rounds of enlargement. We welcome the Commission's proposals for a reinforced negotiating process for all future enlargement candidates. These revisions should help maintain the integrity and effectiveness of the enlargement process into the future, thereby ensuring the continuing value of one of the most important tools for spreading security and stablility across the continent.

24 November 2004








1   I sign this as events are still proceding. Back


 
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