EU’s Rehn: Turkey tops EU agenda

Speaking at the “Turkey in the EU: A Common Future” conference, organised by the European Parliament Greens/European Freedoms Alliance Group in Istanbul, Rehn said that Turkey’s membership of the bloc would open new horizons and produce new challenges for both Turkey and the EU.
Turkey had put in place many significant reforms in the past five years, Rehn said, with these including removing the death penalty from the statute books, broadcasting in Kurdish and other languages and a new penal code.
While there was still much to be done for Turkey’s EU accession bid, Rehn said that it was vital that these reforms should be sustainable.
Entry talks could last for the next 10 years and Turkey’s EU accession process will be tough and complicated,” he said. “However, the target at the end of this path is quite meaningful.”
Rehn said he was confident that the opening of accession talks and Turkey’s ongoing efforts would lead to a macro-economic stability in Turkey.
“Turkey’s dynamic population will support Europe’s ageing population. We are about to open a new page in the EU integration process,” he said.