Declaration by Emma Bonino

Strasbourg, 15th December 2004. The adoption by a large majority in favour of opening negotiations with Turkey is manifestly a victory for all of us. As Shadow Rapporteur for Turkey on behalf of the ALDE Group in the European Parliament, I am very happy with these results. It is clearly an important signal for everybody. The favourable recommendation from the European Commission and the positive vote from the European Parliament - although they are not binding - could certainly have a bearing on the decisions that will be taken by the European Heads of State meeting tomorrow and Friday at the European Council in Bruxelles.

I want to underline the outstanding efforts that the Government of Turkey has undertaken so far and I believe that this process will intensify even more. After all, we are talking about negotiations that could last about ten years, bearing in mind that these political reforms have gained momentum over the last four years! Let us therefore encourage Turkey to keep moving on towards our Union.