Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-11-14-Speech-2-135"
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"en.20001114.5.2-135"2
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"Mr President, if Turkey were a member of the EU, it would be the most populous Member State after Germany. It would be the first Member State geographically to bridge the gulf between Europe and Asia and to have a mainly Muslim tradition. Unfortunately, it is a country which is not only large but which also has an unstable feel about it when it comes to democracy.
All these factors go to show that Turkey’s application for membership of the EU is one of the most important issues for the EU’s future. The Commission’s latest report on enlargement confirms that progress has been made but also highlights large deficits in terms of democracy, human rights and the treatment of ethnic minorities such as the Kurds. Turkey has not come so far as had been hoped. Torture is still practised, and the military plays far too large a political role. Turkey’s role in Cyprus is also unacceptable.
My role here is to represent the members of the Group of the Party of European Socialists in the Committee on Budgets. It is, of course, economic considerations that are at issue. From an economic point of view, poverty, inflation and budget deficits are general problems, like the uneven social distribution of the results of economic progress. Major structural reforms are needed in these areas.
Mr Seppänen’s report is about increasing the European Investment Bank’s powers and mandate to take action in Turkey. Seen from an institutional point of view, this issue is crucially linked to the Customs Union with Turkey, which has existed for many years. That Customs Union nonetheless needs to be strengthened by means of a special programme of measures from the European Investment Bank because the latter does not see Turkey as belonging yet to that circle of countries entitled to pre-accession aid.
We see it as a matter of great urgency for the EU, through the EIB, to support development so that Turkey might as soon as possible set a practical process in motion with a view to fulfilling the Copenhagen Criteria. That is why the demands for democracy and human rights must also find expression in the EIB’s financing activity. In practical terms, this is about the opportunities for granting loans for projects in Turkey amounting to EUR 450 million between now and 2004. Certainly, Turkey is already entitled to loans in a number of connections, but the Commission now wants to invest in economic development, especially where the infrastructure is concerned, in order to strengthen the country’s economic competitiveness.
Allow me to comment on the procedure in terms of principle, leaving aside the point at issue. This is a consultation procedure, but it would be reasonable, of course, for it to be a codecision procedure because these decisions can in actual fact lead to the Budget's having to be adjusted. That particularly applies at this stage when we are progressively committing more and more of the EIB’s resources, but without fully covering the financial risks we are taking. When the EIB grants loans to countries other than the Member States, Parliament ought also to be consulted about the political priorities to be set in what is a part of the Bank’s activity mainly motivated by foreign policy.
The immediate Budget problem is that there is a danger of there being no margin left in the guarantee fund reserve. We are increasing the Investment Bank’s commitments, but we are not increasing the EU Budget’s loan guarantee reserve to the same degree, and we have undertaken to provide 65% finance if a loan cannot be repaid. The residual guarantee fund reserve is now so low that it may prevent the Union from using the EIB as an instrument if new events should occur, requiring initiatives of this nature.
In spite of this concern, the Committee on Budgets nonetheless proposes that Parliament approve the Commission’s proposal. However, we back the rapporteur’s criticism that there is at present no effective assessment of the EIB’s loan operations and that there are deficiencies when it comes to public scrutiny and democratic control of the Bank’s activity.
If we shall nonetheless be voting in favour of the proposal, it is because we think it important to contribute to more positive development in those areas where Turkey is still falling down, especially the economic area."@en1
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