2014! Maybe this is why the dhimmi Swede is impatient. But this story says that the accession talks will indeed begin October 3, as von Sydow wants. “EU sets Turkish entry timetable,” from Reuters, with thanks to Anthony:
BRUSSELS, Belgium (Reuters) — The EU’s executive Commission reaffirmed on Wednesday that it aims to bring Turkey into the 25-nation bloc, but not before 2014, in a negotiating mandate which it adopted ahead of starting accession talks with Ankara.
“The negotiations will be based on Turkey’s own merits and the pace will depend on Turkey’s progress in meeting the requirements for membership,” the negotiating mandate said. “The shared objective of the negotiations is accession.”
The document states that negotiations for Turkish European Union membership can only be concluded from 2014, after the bloc’s next long-term budget which runs from 2007 to 2013.
Accession talks are scheduled to start on October 3, as agreed last December by EU leaders.
But before that, EU foreign ministers must approve the “negotiating framework” unanimously, which may give rise to more wrangling in a political climate increasingly skeptical of Turkish accession following the French and Dutch “No” votes to the EU constitution.
A Commission spokeswoman said the text, seen by Reuters ahead of the EU executive’s weekly meeting, had been adopted with only minor changes in the wording.