EU decision on Turkey
The European Union’s decision to begin entry talks with Turkey has received a widespread welcome.
A good thing too, and a relief it is - for there are more than enough naysayers on the continent (in France, Austria and Germany, for example) to have occasioned significant doubt.
The fact that we’re only at the stage where an agreement has been reached to hold talks on the issue, and the possibility of Turkey actually being allowed into the club will not be realized for well over a decade from now… does little to deter those opposed from carrying on as if it were a question of mere months.
A referendum on the issue, which has been promised in France and Austria, will not happen in good old Germany - non!, nein!, no siree!
Heaven forbid. They wouldn’t dare take that chance. I mean, giving the “Volk” free rein to collectively express their true sentiment - on such an issue on top of it all? Forget it. Gibt es nicht. It’s totally verboten anyway, by the German constitution, or so the argument goes…
Oni soit qui mal y pense.
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I think that France are afraid of being knocked into 3rd place - Turkey’s population is bigger than France’s and apparently by 2020 Turkey will have a larger population than Germany. Also bringing Turkey into the EU doesn’t suit France’s ambitions for a Euro superstate.
Comment by Bill — Sat 18 Dec. 2004 @ 02:12 pm
In all the arguments one could possibly muster against Turkey’s admission into the EU, and there surely are a myriad of reasons why the proposal does not suit a host of present member groupings, I find a distinct absence of an appreciation why it might not only be necessary, but actually a highly recommendable course to take.
Needless to say, a realistic attempt at understanding the implications involved prohibits retaining any illusion whatsoever of the most certain difficulties to be encountered in this effort of integration.
Comment by sennosen — Sat 18 Dec. 2004 @ 08:12 pm
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Comment by Anonymous — Fri 14 Jan. 2005 @ 12:01 pm