The EU accession process has also underpinned a shift in Turkish policy on Iraq.

In this respect, Syria and Iran appreciate Turkey s EU membership process.

Post EU Depression

Of course, the process of accession depends on the readiness of the adhering countries, but it should not be halted or slowed down.

There is still turbulence in the continent's economy and in many areas...

The EU a staunch supporter of Russia s WTO accession

These states have begun, or will begin shortly, the accession process by adopting EU law to bring the states in line with the rest of the Union.

The last of the three countries is a candidate for EU membership in 2007, and the accession process has had a moderating effect on Romanian politics.

On balance, however, the advantages far outweigh the risks.

Millions of Ukraine s citizens favor EU membership, but their enthusiasm is tempered by the absence of a clear EU policy towards Ukraine.

Now, unfortunately, even the economic benefits of EU membership seem unclear.

The EU must learn from this experience to develop an accession strategy for the Western Balkans, whose development has been delayed by a complex post conflict transition process.

Of these funds, over 100 million came in the form of humanitarian aid mainly in immediate emergency relief to overcome the effects of the civil war and the consequences of the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Instead, enlargement was turned into a dull exercise, in which the ultimate benefits of EU membership became blurred in the minds of ordinary people by the complex process of adopting the acquis communautaire (the body of EU law).

Most EU citizens are uneasy today over the prospect of Turkish membership.

Overall, progress on implementing the eu Central Asia Strategy has been encouraging.

The prospect of joining the European Union helped consolidate democracy in central and eastern Europe, and in Turkey, too.

The EU s privacy crackdown threatens to undermine all of this.

Greek Cypriots are using their European Union membership as a weapon to frustrate Turkey s EU ambitions and to block attempts to increase trade between the EU and the island s north.

Yet this historical evidence is not enough to unite European sentiment in favor of Turkey s EU membership.

For Turkey to consider military intervention in Kurdistan, EU member states would first have to renege on their commitment to negotiate Turkish accession.

Ukraine needs the discipline of the accession process and thus the promise of EU membership if reforms are to be implemented effectively.

Public opinion in some candidate countries was ambivalent about the EU even before Chirac's remarks. Now, anti EU attitudes could well become stronger.

For the first time in EU history, they received pre accession funding to help overcome costly hurdles.

Public opinion in some candidate countries was ambivalent about the EU even before Chirac's remarks.

Ukrainian enthusiasm about the EU is based on the idea that European security is indivisible.

The EU being Russia s largest trading partner, the EU Russia bilateral agreement was regarded as major step in the process of Russia s WTO membership. It is the Russian Government s declared aim to join the WTO in the course of 2007.

Romania is due to end its membership negotiations with the EU in 2004.

A poll conducted by the International Republican Institute in September 2007 indicated that 81 of Georgians support joining the EU.

Domestic support for EU accession was 70 at the start of the negotiations, but is now closer to 40 .

Turkey also showed its good will over Cyprus, removing a nagging political obstacle to EU membership.

The scope of our cooperation has gained tremendous importance with the expansion of our common borders after the last enlargements of the EU.

The Czech experience shows that implementing all of the European Union s norms so as to be ready to qualify for membership takes some time.

The overlap between the end of the accession process and heated discussions about the new European Constitution played into the hands of the opposition.

Unless the European Union acts quickly, the whole region could slide backwards, with dire social, economic, and security consequences. The EU needs a comprehensive regional approach, focusing on the remaining steps that would lead each country towards membership.

But these bodies must not be seen as substitutes for the far more comprehensive accession process, which only the EU itself can initiate.

By themselves, the labor market implications of poor countries accession to the EU simply are not very dislocating.

The EU needs a comprehensive regional approach, focusing on the remaining steps that would lead each country towards membership.

With the economic benefits of EU membership now seeming much less than expected, the intensity of pro EU sentiments in the candidate countries has significantly declined.

Before, during, and after its 1994 presidency of the EU, Greece was the only EU nation to back the Serbian position that Serbian forces had entered Bosnian territory.

In response to this the MFA of Azerbaijan declared that the involvement of the EU in the investigation process was unacceptable for them.

These questions apply most pointedly indeed, they cannot be avoided in the case of Turkey s possible accession to the EU.

They can only control when to adopt it, which in principle could be as early as two years after EU admission.

As a strong supporter of the EU Candidate of Serbia, Greece has proposed the Agenda 2014 for boosting the integration of all the Western Balkan states into the Union.

support deeper integration of Central Asia into the world trade and economic system, in particular through the WTO accession process andeventualmembership