Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-07-03-Speech-3-203"
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"en.20020703.7.3-203"2
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"Mr President, thank you for your friendly welcome. One might say that Mr Gallagher’s absence from the House and my own presence here are both due to our each having become ministers. That is the way it is sometimes.
In response to the question, I would say that the controversial law on the media to which the honourable Member refers was adopted by the Turkish parliament on 15 May of this year. The Council is of the view that, if it were to be implemented in practice, this law on the media would clearly be a retrograde step and would mean further tightening of the restrictions upon the freedom of radio and television broadcasting in Turkey. The Council would draw attention to the fact that on 13 June, after the matter had been introduced by the Turkish President, Mr Sezer, the Turkish constitutional court suspended five articles of this law, including the article concerning the appointment of members and that concerning economic sanctions in the event of infringements. I would also point out that the constitutional court is still investigating the substance of the rest of the text. The Council would remind the House that the European Commission reacted immediately to this law partly on the grounds that it was not consistent with the politically based Copenhagen criteria and partly on the grounds that it conflicted with the accession partnership, a necessary prerequisite of which is that all legal stipulations prohibiting Turkish citizens from using their mother tongues in TV and radio broadcasts are to be cancelled without delay. The EU has emphasised this precondition quite unambiguously in its discussion meetings with Turkey and did so most recently at the political directors’ meeting on 17 May in Madrid immediately after the Turkish parliament had adopted the law. The Council will monitor the situation carefully, since we are concerned here with absolutely crucial principles. The Council and Mr Papayannakis are therefore agreed on that point."@en1
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