The EU Parliament has today approved by a large majority the Report on Turkey’s EU accession process. The negotiations are clearly at a standstill and cannot move forward under the current circumstances, unless there was a radical shift by the Turkish authorities on democratic values, rule of law and human rights. The S&D Group, together with the other main political forces in the EU Parliament, calls on the Commission to explore possible formats for a mutually appealing framework.

Nacho Sánchez Amor, S&D MEP and European Parliament rapporteur on Turkey, said:

“The doors to Turkey remain open, but let’s be clear on that: unless we see drastic changes by the Turkish authorities, under the current circumstances Turkey’s EU accession process cannot resume. The overwhelming majority of the EU Parliament took note of the current standstill of the negotiations and the need to move forward and break the current deadlock, starting a reflection process to find a parallel and realistic framework for EU-Turkey relations.

“Turkey remains a NATO ally and a key partner in security, trade, economy and on migration. However, this report is about Turkey still being a candidate to the EU, and therefore about the continued and flagrant disregard by Turkish authorities of their need to respect democratic values, rule of law, human rights and align with EU laws, principles and obligations.

“In this sense, we cannot accept that Sweden’s NATO membership is kept hostage and used as a pressure tool on the EU accession process. One process has nothing to do with the other. Each country’s progress on the path towards the EU remains based on its own merits.

“If the Turkish government really wants to revive that path, they know perfectly well what to do: they should show it with concrete reforms and actions and not void statements.”