By Daniel Dombey in Brussels
The European Union will need to reform its budget system and may have to impose restrictions on the free movement of labour before it can admit Turkey as a member, according to a document sent to EU member states on Monday.
The document, drawn up by the Dutch presidency of the EU, attempts to sketch out the likely conclusions of a historic summit on December 16 and 17, when EU leaders will decide how and when to open membership negotiations with Ankara.
The draft conclusions say that the talks can be concluded only after a new EU long-term budget is agreed “for the period from 2014, which should entail a structural reform of funding and expenditure of the EU”.
They add that the EU should consider “permanent safeguard clauses, notably in the area of the free movement of persons”. The European Commission has already highlighted this in its own recommendation that Turkey should join.
But the idea of safeguards is particularly sensitive because of fears in countries such as Germany that Turkish membership could lead to large-scale immigration, and worries in Ankara that any restriction on one of the basic freedoms of the EU could make Turkey a second-class member. Safeguards could be triggered if there was a serious risk of labour market disruption in an EU member state.
EU ambassadors are set to discuss the draft conclusions tomorrow, but the most sensitive issues are unlikely to be settled until the summit. Such issues include the date for the beginning of negotiations, expected to be the second half of next year normalisation of Turkey's relations with Cyprus and language on possible courses of action should the talks falter.