French Senate moves to scrap measure on Turkey's EU entry
Güncelleme Tarihi:
A French Senate committee on Wednesday rejected a measure that would have made a referendum on Turkey's membership in the European Union mandatory, saying it could harm relations with Ankara, the AFP reported. Sources in parliament said the measure was now likely to be blocked by the Senate, it added. (UPDATED)
The foreign relations and defense committee said the provision of a bill adopted by the National Assembly last month "could appear to be directed against a friendly state and ally of
It would "likely cause grave harm to diplomatic relations between
The National Assembly voted on May 29 to make a referendum mandatory for accepting new countries with populations totaling more than five percent the bloc's entire size -- a move that affects
The provision is part of a bill on institutional reform to be submitted to a vote in July. Currently a parliamentary vote is sufficient to approve the accession of new EU members.
Turkey had slammed the French reform project, saying it was aimed at raising new barriers to Ankara's bid to join the bloc, and warned that the move could harm relations, saying in a foreign ministry statement that it was "irked by efforts to enshrine such a discriminatory approach towards
President Nicolas Sarkozy is a vocal opponent of
The EU opened entry talks with