Delebarre calls for closer regional ties between EU and Turkey

Cooperation between the EU and Turkey must be strengthened at local and regional level, regardless of the state of play over Turkey's EU membership bid.

This was the keynote message from Committee of the Regions president Michel Delebarre following talks with the mayor of Istanbul, Kadir Topbas.

"Independent of the course of the accession negotiations, the intensity of the relationship between the EU and Turkey will depend on the intensity of the relationship between local and regional authorities in Turkey and those in the existing member states," said Delebarre, who is mayor for Dunkirk.

His weekend visit to Istanbul – designated 2010 European capital of culture - was organised as part of the CoR’s policy of helping local and regional administrations prepare for EU membership.

Both Delebarre and Topbas backed the creation of a joint consultative committee, composed of CoR members and Turkish counterparts, to take the process forward.

On Turkey's EU membership bid, Delebarre insisted that the CoR did not wish to get involved in "questions of high policy" such as the relationship with Cyprus and security issues. 
 
Istanbul, which is Europe's largest city, with a population of 17 million, opened its first representation in Brussels' Avenue des Arts later on Monday.

Meanwhile, European commission president Jose Manuel Barroso says that Europe’s regions will be stronger when the EU reform treaty is ratified.

He also wants to improve dialogue with regions, giving them a bigger role in the consultation process over new EU legislation.

He made his comments on Monday during a meeting in Brussels with Delebarre and Claudio Martini, president of the Rennes-based Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR).

 

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