Štefan
Füle
European
Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy
Opening
remarks of Commissioner Füle at the EU-Turkey working group on
Chapter 23
Third
meeting of the working group on chapter 23 - Judiciary and
fundamental rights
Ankara,
17 June 2014
I
am glad to be here today with Ministers Çavuşoglu and Bozdağ at
this third meeting of the working group on chapter 23 – Judiciary
and fundamental rights. This meeting is a fundamental element in our
joint efforts to address issues relevant for the progress in the
accession process.
As
you are well aware I attach a great importance to engaging with
Turkey on all political criteria-related issues which are so much at
the centre of the accession process.
An
independent and impartial judiciary and the respect for fundamental
rights are of a crucial significance for EU accession. They are at
the very heart of the European values. Hence our strong insistence on
continuing engagement with the Turkish partners on these matters.
İt
is not about comparing the exact language of the particular pieces of
the Turkish legislation with the existing EU laws. It is about
ensuring that the basic principles and standards of the EU are
followed in a way that safeguards the European values - such
as independence of judiciary and separation of powers.
It
will never work unless the public gains confidence that the changes
have a real impact on Turkish citizens: empower them, providing them
with more guarantees for their rights and freedoms. I am not talking
about an academic exercise but about efforts where the overall goal
is that the people feel that there has been a change.
It
is important to create and sustain the momentum of our engagement on
these issues in the coming months to achieve real and tangible
results.
It
is my task, as the Commissioner for Enlargement, to report on the
developments in all candidate countries and to assist them in the
alignment efforts. I do hope that after this meeting, I can report
back in Brussels to the Council and the European Parliament that
despite recent turbulences, Turkey is willing to move reforms
forward. Your strong commitment to further reforms is indispensable.
I
have already witnessed a number of courageous and positive reforms
implemented by Turkey. Let's not undermine these efforts. We have
invested a lot, time, energy and also financial resources. Now we
need to re-accelerate the process, starting hopefully from this
meeting.
Today
provides an opportunity to exchange views on the basis of the reports
drafted by independent experts. These reports have been shared with
the Turkish authorities and I hope that, once finalised, they will be
used as a roadmap for the future reforms in the area of judiciary and
freedom of expression.
I
would like to thank the Ministers and their Ministries for the
excellent cooperation we have seen on the peer reviews in the last
months. I hope that the future cooperation, including the discussion
on steps deriving from their recommendations, will continue to be in
the same way.
Let
me in this respect recall the importance of early consultations on
legislation affection judiciary, rule of law and other relevant areas
ahead of the adoption of legislation in order to ensure that it
brings Turkey closer to the EU standards and not further away.
In
order to build consensus on important pieces of legislation within
parliament and Turkish society it is important to ensure broad
consultations with civil society on the legislation of public
interest. It is one of the principles of mature democracy that
decisions are being taken as transparently as possible and where
every citizen has an opportunity to freely express and exchange
publicly his or her views.
I
am looking forward to interesting presentations and I would expect,
as I have already indicated in my meeting this morning with the
Minister of Justice, that we will all have at the end of this morning
meeting a better idea of the "how" and on the "what"
we will be working together on in the next few weeks and months to
set the tonality of the October Progress Report.
