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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