President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso has dismissed claims that Turkey would be a burden for the European Union at a time when the 27-nation bloc’s membership talks with the candidate country are in standstill.
Barroso said, in contrast, Turkey would bring in a significant added value to the bloc during his speech at the European Business Summit on Wednesday, adding that the European Commission extended full support to Turkey’s membership to the EU.
Barroso recalled the fact that several European Union member states are not ready to accept Turkey as a full member at this point and said he was aware of Turkey’s disappointment with it.
Recent polls have shown that Turkish public has less incentive to embrace the EU membership than before and anti-EU sentiment among Turkish officials are increasingly growing. Despite sweeping reforms including constitutional amendments last year, the EU has criticized Turkey for lack of press freedom and reluctance in solving Turkey’s decades-old Kurdish problem.
The president said the EU has a democratic structure and that it has to take opinion of all its members in account.
“I believe that Turkish economy will bring in an added value to the European Union. Turkey will not be a burden to the union, on the contrary, it will bring in significant added value with its young population and current dynamism,” Barroso added.
European Commissioner for Enlargement Stefan Füle told at a session on Turkey-European Union relations that annual trade volume between the EU and Turkey exceeded 100 billion euro, and that Turkey received two-third of its direct foreign investments from the European Union member states.
“All these have proved that Turkey has become a country making key contributions to the European Union’s global competition power,” he said.
He added that all European Union consulates in Turkey were expected to apply a simplified and harmonized visa regime as of July.
via Barroso says Turkey not burden for EU.
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