Gov’t yet to act on Third National Program
Though the Third National Program announced last August had raised hopes among Turkey’s pro-EU intellectuals for a renewed push toward accession to the European Union, it has ended up in a fiasco, with the government failing to see it through.
The government’s lack of movement on the package, which addresses the 473 laws and regulations that need to be changed in order to adapt Turkey’s legislation for compliance with 33 chapters of the EU negotiation process, has drawn the ire of intellectuals, who have expressed concern that the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) has lost determination and momentum in its European Union bid.
"EU efforts have come to a halt. Becoming an EU member is no longer a priority for the government. The Third National Program was prepared in the wake of a progress report on Turkey in 2008. Unfortunately, the government has achieved no success on its road toward the EU since then, which shows that it is unwilling to proceed down this road. If the AK Party was as determined as it was in its first three years in office, it would have completed most of these reforms by now," argued Mehmet Altan, a Star daily columnist.
The AK Party government, which slowed its reform efforts drastically due to presidential and general elections in 2007 and a closure case against it in 2008, seemed to have bounced back on Aug. 18, 2008 with a comprehensive EU reform package. The package is 400 pages long and organized into four chapters. It laid out planned changes to 131 laws and 342 bylaws and regulations, renewing hopes that the government was finally returning to its EU agenda and speeding up efforts to make the country an EU member. The Third National Program, however, ended in a fiasco for the government, with officials devoting their efforts instead to the recent local elections.
According to İhsan Dağı, a professor at the Middle East Technical University's (ODTÜ) international relations department, there are two main reasons the AK Party slowed down on the path toward full EU membership.
"One is the ruling party's belief that it can continue its existence in the political sphere without EU plans. The AK Party has been focused on internal politics and lost its unitive vision since 2007. It no longer believes that it needs reforms to exist. Secondly, the negative feedback from the union exhausted the governing party. The unwillingness on the part of [German Chancellor Angela] Merkel and [French President Nicolas] Sarkozy to see Turkey as an EU member made the AK Party lose momentum in its membership bid," Dağı explained.
The Third National Program requires important changes to the Constitution. Turkey is, however, still stuck in debates over whether or not to amend the current Constitution, which was drafted under military rule and has long been a center of criticism, as it denies many rights and freedoms. In 2007 the AK Party geared up to draft a new civilian constitution that could meet the country's contemporary needs, forming an independent commission headed by Professor Ergun Özbudun to draft the document. However, work on the constitution was shelved when a closure case was filed against the AK Party in March of last year on charges of anti-secularism.
The ruling party is now seeking ways to reach a compromise with other political parties for planned changes to the Constitution.
An important part of the national program is judicial reform. Necessary reforms include the restructuring of the Supreme Board of Prosecutors and Judges (HSYK), the establishment of a union of judges and prosecutors, the passing of an arbitration law on jurisprudential conflicts and amendments to the notaries law, the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) and, most importantly, the Code on Criminal Procedure (CMK), making decisions from the European Court of Human Rights enforceable in Turkey.
The government now plans to remain inactive on the Third National Program and focus on the planned constitutional changes until Parliament’s summer recess, which means the program will have to be shelved until the start of the new legislative year on Sept. 1.
Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Çiçek told Today's Zaman that the government attaches great importance to Turkey’s EU bid and that the slowdown in reforms was a result of negative stances against Turkey adopted by certain EU member states. "We cannot cover distance on several topics due to vetoes by France and the Greek Cypriots. They don't even allow the opening of certain chapters. Because of the negative stance of these countries against us, there is an opposition within Turkey that resists any progress on the EU road," he explained.
The national program calls for new legislation to ensure a transparent and effective administrative structure during the implementation of the reforms. It also introduces an ombudsman law that establishes a public auditing institution. Another reform includes setting up a commission annexed to the Prime Ministry that will concentrate on increasing transparency in public administration.
Another new body envisioned under the new package will be a political ethics commission. The Prime Ministry’s Human Rights Administration will also be restructured on the basis of the Paris Principles. The package introduces major changes to the Law on Political Parties to allow for more transparency in the financing of political parties and their activities. The most significant changes in the program pertain to civilian-military relations, an area where Turkey is frequently criticized by the EU. Legal changes that will ensure the auditing of all of the Turkish Armed Forces’ (TSK) expenditures are included in the package.
The national program introduces changes that make sure investment decisions made by the government will implemented effectively so the administrative and bureaucratic obstacles blocking domestic and international investors can be removed. Regulations restricting foreign direct investment (FDI) from within the EU will be removed.
Other changes included in the program include a revision to the Code of Civil Procedures. A law on the protection of personal data will be prepared and the necessary steps will be taken to make Turkey a party to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Convention on Cultural Diversity. It is hoped that Parliament will approve the relevant protocols of the European Court on Human Rights preventing public institutions from discriminating against any individual. The UN Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment will be ratified.
The law addressing assemblies and demonstrations will be revised and its effective implementation will be ensured. The program also includes significant steps toward improving the quality of life for women and children.
Todayszaman, 12.05.2009
| 
