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EU Set to Sanction Syria Scientists, Military Officers Over Chemical Attacks Wall Street Journal (subscription) BRUSSELSThe European Union is set to target 16 Syrian scientists and military officers in a new round of sanctions against the Assad regime on Monday, seeking to punish those responsible for chemical weapons attacks against civilians. The move is a ...

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EU Set to Sanction Syria Scientists, Military Officers Over Chemical Attacks - Wall Street Journal (subscription)

"The majority of British people voted to leave the EU. The majority of MPs, including Blair's own Labour Party, voted to trigger Article 50," he said.

"By calling for the will of the people and Parliament to be overturned, Tony Blair is demonstrating once again that he is out of touch."

In his latest foray into the Brexit debate, the former prime minister said the election of French President Emmanuel Macron had opened up the prospect of real change in Brussels which could enable Britain to stay in the bloc.

Mr Blair said his contacts with senior European figures had convinced him the EU was ready to change and that the option of Britain remaining a member should be left on the table.

"This is a completely changed situation in Europe. I'm not going to disclose conversations I've had within Europe, but I'm not saying this literally on the basis of a whim," he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

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Tony Blair refuses to offer evidence for claim UK could stay in a reformed European Union - Telegraph.co.uk

The European Union and the Turkish National flag | Chris McGrath/Getty Images

Opinion

The accession process is the backbone of Ankaras relations with Brussels.

By Faruk Kaymakc

7/15/17, 12:36 PM CET

A recent survey told you everything you need to know about EU-Turkey relations: some 75.5 percent of the country said it would still like to join the European Union but only 36 percent think Turkey will ever be admitted.

Theres an obvious reason for the disparity: The EUs ambivalence toward Turkeys accession.

This is a pity. Turkey and the EU have much to offer each other. Ankara, officially a candidate since 1999, deems the accession negotiations the backbone of its relations with Brussels.

The negotiations provide a structured dialogue that enables the EU to engage with Turkey in a constructive manner. For Turkey, it is the driving force for reforms and further alignment with the values and regulations of the EU.

Unfortunately, the EU has lost its anchoring role vis--vis Turkey after it allowed some members to block 18 out of 35 chapters between 2006-2009 and thus let the accession negotiations fall prey to national interests. Its time for Brussels to put Turkey unambiguously back on the track of the accession process.

Opponents of Turkeys membership have always argued that the country is too big, too poor and too different (read too Muslim). But one could just as easily argue the opposite.

Turkeys size, population and global weight will be an asset for the EU, and its young and dynamic population could be the antidote to the EUs aging population.

As to being poor, Turkey has been growing rapidly. It is now Europes sixth largest economy and the 18th largest globally. According to recent forecasts, the country will become the worlds 12th largest economy by 2030, surpassing Italy and South Korea. And Ankara performs better than some EU members when it comes to meeting the Maastricht Criteria.

Finally, Turkeys predominantly Muslim population and secular state will contribute to the blocs cultural diversity, which in turn could help to alleviate the rise of Islamophobia, xenophobia, and radicalization across the EU. Moreover, the membership of a secular, Muslim country could facilitate the integration of Muslim Europeans into their respective societies, as well as increase the blocs ability to reach out to the Muslim world.

The failed coup attempt perpetrated by the Fetullahist Terrorist Organisation (FETO) on July 15, 2016, disrupted the momentum that had been built following the November 29, 2015 Turkey-EU Summit.

The coup attempt, the bloodiest in the history of the Republic, targeted Turkish democracy, forced Turkey to declare astate of emergency and tarnished Turkeys image as well as disrupting Turkey-EU cooperation and the accession process.

After a period of difficult relations driven by the EUs slow and weak response to an attempted coup and heightened tensions ahead of a constitutional referendum which led to a crisis of confidence towards the EU in Turkey the months ahead hold plenty of potential for the reinvigoration of Turkey-EU relations.

Meetings on May 25 between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoan and the presidents of the European Council, Commission and Parliament reinforced the dedication to cooperate in Ankara and Brussels. And both sides have committed to work together to curb irregular migration, fight the scourge of terrorism, move toward visa liberalization, upgrade the 1996 Customs Union and keep the accession process alive.

These are fruitful areas of cooperation. Visa-free travel to the Schengen Area for Turkish citizens once Turkey fulfills the last remaining seven of the EUs 72 benchmarks will promote people-to-people contact, contribute to economic growth and increase cooperation in security, counterterrorism and management of irregular migration.

Improving the Customs Union and the expansion of its scope will expedite economic convergence and provide economic dynamism and benefits to both sides in an increasingly competitive global market.

Thanks to a deal between Turkey and the EU on the management of irregular migration, illegal and perilous crossings over the Aegean have dwindled down from 7,000 a day to double digits at most, and migrant deaths crossing that sea have been almost completely prevented. Accelerated funding to Syrian refugees in Turkey and the implementation of the Voluntary Humanitarian Readmission Scheme will increase the EUs credibility, as well as help share Turkeys heavy burden.

To be sure, Turkey will join the EU only after fully meeting membership criteria and when both sides agree to move forward with accession. But doing so will require the EU to commit to genuine engagement, through constructive criticism and honest dialogue despite the rise of populism, the growth of the extreme right, and the distractions of Brexit and weakening transatlantic ties.

Turkey is working to overcome the trauma of last years attempted coup, while hosting some 3.3 million refugees and fighting multiple terrorist organizations. And yet, Ankara is not asking for privileged treatment. It only expects to be treated on an equal footing with all the other candidates and for the EU to be a credible anchor.

Turkeys accession to the EU might be the most challenging of all processes, past and prospective. But it will be the most beneficial and most meaningful.This is why at this critical juncture, a constructive dialogue about accession is more important than ever.

Faruk Kaymakc is the Permanent Delegate of Turkey to the EU.

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Turkey to the EU: Let's talk membership - POLITICO.eu

ZINGST, Germany (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel told voters on Saturday that Britain's decision to leave the European Union and France's election of President Emmanuel Macron had changed her view on the bloc, adding it was worth fighting for a stronger Europe.

Merkel's comments, made in a speech in the Baltic Sea resort town of Zingst two months before a federal election, underline her personal determination to deepen European integration if she is re-elected for a fourth term.

Calling European Union membership one of Germany's biggest strengths, Merkel said last year's Brexit decision and elections in France and the Netherlands, in which pro-European parties defeated populist candidates, had changed her perspective.

"For many people, including myself, something changed when we saw the Britons want to leave, when we were worried about the outcome of the elections in France and the Netherlands," Merkel told voters, some of whom wore straw hats with black-red-and-gold hatbands, the colors of the German flag.

The center-right chancellor admitted that the EU was far from perfect and that Brussels sometimes was too bureaucratic.

"But we have realized in the past few months that Europe is more than just bureaucracy and economic regulation, that Europe and living together in the European Union have something to do with war and peace, that the decades of peace after World War Two would have been completely unthinkable without the European Union," Merkel said to applause.

Many people in the past had taken the EU and its advantages for granted -- such as freedom of speech, freedom of religion and freedom to travel, said Merkel who grew up in communist East Germany.

"You don't have all this in many parts of the world. And that's why it is worth fighting for this Europe," Merkel said.

"That's why one of our election placards is saying: If Europe is stronger, then Germany will be stronger. This is directly related."

Merkel has said she is open to proposals of strengthening the single currency through the creation of a euro zone finance minister who would oversee a pooled budget for investments and transfers intended to help member states cushion downturns.

Reporting by Michael Nienaber, Reuters TV; Editing by Stephen Powell

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Merkel tells voters: Brexit, French poll changed my view on Europe - Reuters

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko (left), President of the European Council Donald Tusk (right) and the President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker walk next to each other after a Ukraine-EU summit in Kiev on July 13, 2017. | Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images

Brussels and Kiev celebrate fresh ties but Dutch disagreement casts shadow over talks.

By David Stern

7/13/17, 9:51 PM CET

Updated 7/15/17, 11:47 AM CET

KIEV Ukrainian and European Union leaders ended a two-day summit Thursday that celebrated their growing closeness while also highlighting points of tension between the two sides.

European Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission PresidentJean-Claude Juncker arrived in Kiev on Wednesday evening for talks with President Petro Poroshenko and other top officials.

Itshould have been a victory lap after one of the most successful periods in relations with Brussels in Ukraines history. Last month, the EU granted Ukrainians the right to travel to Europes Schengen zone without visas one of their most prized foreign policy goals. This week, the EUratified a far-reaching Association Agreement with Kiev, which had been more than a decade in the making.

But a disagreement over wording, which left organizers without a final summit communiqu, cast a shadow over the gathering.

At issue was a line declaring that the European Union acknowledges Ukraines European aspirations and welcomes its European choice which had been included in a statement after the EUs 2015 Eastern Partnership summit, as well as written into the ratified political and trade agreement.

But a disagreement over wording, which left organizers without a final summit communiqu, cast a shadow over the gathering.

According to European diplomats, Dutch officials insisted additional language be inserted into the final statement, to reflect a 2016 European Council decision thatthe Association Agreement did not guarantee Ukraine a path to become an EU member. The Dutch parliament had earlier ratified the deal on the condition that this did not lead to automatic membership for Ukraine.

EU officials said Ukraine and its EU allies insisted the line must be included without alteration. So in the end, the seven-page document, which had been laboriously negotiated over weeks, was not issued.

Some observers were at a loss as to why a compromise could not be reached perhaps by leaving out the line altogether.

Practically, this is not a big deal, said one European diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity. But symbolically its damaging. It shows a lack of unity.

Atthe moment this is more a question of language than policy. The Netherlands, officials say, is supportive of Ukraine in private discussions; however, Dutch officials take a harder line in public, fearful of providing political ammunition to the countrys far right.

Within the EU theres a certain amount of unity, at least for the moment, over the policy toward Ukraine reflected by the extension last month of sanctions against Russia for its annexation of Crimea and destabilization campaign within Ukraine.

The Association Agreement is viewed as the capstone of this consensus, though the path to ratification was strewn with rocks.

Moscow opposed the deal from the outset, pressuring Viktor Yanukovych, Ukraines president at the time, to reject it in 2013. This unleashed pro-Western protests and clashes in the capital, which ultimately drove Yanukovych from power.

The agreement was signed, but fighting broke out in Ukraines east, which grew into a conflict thats killed more than 10,000 people and decimated the countrys economy. Meanwhile, Dutch voters rejected the Association Agreement in a referendum, concerned over what commitments it made to the Ukrainians.

After Dutch concerns were assuaged by fellow EU leaders, there was a sense of mission accomplished among European and Ukrainian officials in Kiev on Thursday. Tusk even handed Poroshenko a document formally confirming ratification.

Moscow opposed the deal from the outset, pressuring Viktor Yanukovych, Ukraines president at the time, to reject it in 2013.

[This] was a kind of milestone summit, to summarize all the work that has been done, said European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis. Now we are discussing how to fully use the potential of the Association Agreement and deepen cooperation in a number of sectors.

But though membership is not on the table at the moment, Ukrainian officials are keen to establish other incentives they can work toward and hold out to the public as possibilities for the future. In remarks after the summit, Poroshenko expressed hopes for Ukraine to become a member of the EU customs union and Schengen open-border zone.

EU officials were noncommittal.

Furthermore, it remains to be seen how fully Ukraine implements the Association Agreements commitments, which comeinto full effect in September and involve wide-ranging political, legal, economic and quality-control reforms.

Ultimately, Ukraines endemic corruption was the biggest point of concern. EU leaders warned their Ukrainian counterparts that this had to be their primary focus, otherwise all the hard work of the past years couldbe undone.

What were asking we wont be lecturing the country because this isnt a country that needs to be lectured is to increase the fight against corruption, Juncker said. Corruption is undermining all the efforts this great nation is undertaking.

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EU and Ukraine close but not that close - POLITICO.eu