EU to Discuss 29 Issues with Turkey

After this, the discussion stage will commence. At this point Turkey will form a discussion committee and designate a chief negotiator. This committee will carry out the talks along with the committees from member countries. 29 issues will be taken up during the negotiations, running the gamut from free movement of people and goods to fishing, justice, and Customs Union regulations. Other topics will include business law, competition policy, agriculture, transportation, economic and monetary unity, statistics, social politics and employment, energy, industrial politics, Small and Medium Size Enterprises (KOBI), and environment.

Discussions will be complete when agreement is reached on all 29 topics. During the discussions, Turkey will determine its position, while the EU will determine which arrangements must be completed by a given time.

In some areas where the EU will give transition times, no comparable examples exist. For instance, while the Union gave Cypriot Greek a transition time for free travel of goods, they gave Malta a seven year transition period to implement the free movement of people.