Ex-French PM Warns on Turkish EU Membership

While center-right French politicians are strongly questioning the readiness of Turkey to enter the EU, a prominent French figure on the left has warned that Turkish accession might seriously harm the EU's decision-making capacity. Laurent Fabius, a socialist former French Prime Minister and currently a member of the French parliament, stated on Apri 28 while speaking at the Center for European Policy Studies in Brussels that the functioning of the EU will be brought to a stalemate if Turkey, a country of almost 68 million inhabitants, is allowed to become a member. Referring to the proposals on qualified majority voting in the Draft European Constitution - where size of population is a key factor - Mr Fabius said that Turkey could block an EU decision in 70 percent of the cases. The French socialist said that Turkey could only become an EU member in the future if the EU institutions were reformed first. He characterised the proposals for institutional reform in the Draft Constitution as "insufficient." Consequently, Mr Fabius stated that after a possible adoption of the Constitution, a new round of institutional reforms was needed before an accession of Turkey was possible.(EUobserver.com)