Brussel: Turkish FM Gul adresses European Convention

Gul stated that steps to be taken for improvement of the system should take into account the institutional balances within the EU. Gul said that with this reason, Turkey did not welcome Germany’s and France’s proposal about change of the EU Council Presidency in every 2.5 years through election. Gul said that Turkey also opposed the proposal about formation of a regular presidency mission for the EU Council as it would make the existing system more complicated. Gul said that they wanted the current six-month term presidency to continue. Abdullah Gul noted that formation of a congress in which national parliaments and European Parliament representatives participated would make the existing structure more complicated. Explaining his views about the structure of the EU Commission, Gul stressed the importance of formation of the Commission’s structure in the enlarging EU in an efficient way that was in line with the principle of equality of member states.