No majority in ending EU-negotiations with Turkey says Merkel

European Union leaders gathered in the capital of Belgium, Brussels, on Thursday to discuss recent developments within the block.

Bringing relations between Turkey and the Union on the table, German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged her fellow leaders at the European Union Leaders Summit to cut Turkey's pre-accession EU funding.

Speaking at the summit in Brussels, Merkel criticised the "human rights situation" in Turkey, but said she wanted to "avoid a showdown" and does not wish "to break bridges" with the NATO country.

She was supported by Belgium and the Netherlands. 

Merkel's initial proposal to end accession negotiations lacked sufficient support from other leaders. 

Answering questions on Friday, European Commission President, Jean-Claude Juncker stated that the EU wants "to keep the door open to Ankara but the current reality in Turkey is making this difficult."

Mixed feelings

Poland, Britain and Sweden maintain strong support for Turkey’s EU membership, whereas countries such as Austria, Belgium and Germany less so.

The division between the countries was reflected in yesterday’s summit. Merkel’s tough stance going into the meeting was softened in a news conference she gave after the summit. 

The German Chancellor said that there was not a majority for the immediate breaking off accession negotiations. 

The final conclusion of the summit was not to “burn bridges”, said Merkel, but rather re-establish dialogue with Turkey, citing that “there are many strategic reasons for maintaining dialogue with Turkey.”

Despite calls by German social democrats and liberals to immediately halt Ankara’s EU membership talks and freeze €4 billion ($4.68 billion) in pre-accession funds, a majority of EU member states turned down such proposals and backed dialogue with Ankara.

Any decision to terminate Turkey’s membership talks would require unanimity among all EU member states. So far only Austria has openly backed freezing Turkey’s EU membership talks.

Merkel backs down from election promises

Merkel previously caused a stir during her recent reelection campaign with a pledge to try to get EU leaders to terminate Turkey's membership bid.

During her election campaign, Angela Merkel said that she would ask EU leaders to end membership negotiations with Turkey. Not finding enough support, she then called for the suspension of accession talks. Also alone in this, Merkel had finally proposed cutting EU funding linked to Turkey’s membership talks.  

But speaking to journalists afterwards, Merkel said she wanted a common EU position on the accession talks and said dialogue with Turkey had to continue.

Hours later she said she and other EU leaders held very important talks on Turkey and that the bloc's executive arm would work on proposals for reducing financial aid that has been channeled to helping the country prepare for membership.

Asked about her call for an end to Ankara’s EU membership process during election campaign, Merkel said, “We asked the commission to prepare an offer on reducing or redirecting EU pre-accession funds to Turkey. But the next step must be communication with Turkey.”

Decreasing budget allocations as an option

Some leaders called for the “reorientation” of funds rather than decreasing them. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said the aim would be "that the money moves away from the government to go towards areas such as migration and Turkish charities."

Turkey is set to receive almost €500 million next year for the EU's common budget and European governments are discussing how much to limit that while not hitting projects such as infrastructure and agriculture.

EU member states are waiting for a European Commission assessment of funding for Turkey – most of which already goes to NGOs or projects – in early 2018.

Turkey’s strategic role in immigration and against terrorism

"I will also make clear that Turkey is doing a great job on the refugees and that we have obligations under the EU-Turkey deal," Merkel said at the start of the EU summit in Brussells, praising Turkey's help in stopping the huge flow of migrants into Europe.

Other EU nations noted Turkey's vital importance to the bloc both in tackling the migrant crisis and in fighting terrorism.

Turkey and the EU signed a refugee deal last March that aims to discourage irregular migration through the Aegean Sea by taking stricter measures against human traffickers and improving conditions of nearly 3 million Syrian refugees in Turkey.

The deal included a $6.8 billion aid package to help Turkey care for refugees it is hosting. Ankara has already spent $30 billion dollars in its efforts to tackle the refugee crisis.

Turkey’s membership negotiations

Launched in 2005 after decades of seeking the formal start of an EU membership bid, Ankara's membership negotiations were always sensitive for France and Germany because of Turkey's status as a large, mainly Muslim country.

Speaking at the second day of the TRTWorld Forum on Thursday, Turkish Minister on Foreign Affairs Mevlut Cavusoglu brought attention to the failure of the EU to recognise that the Turkish population was “disappointed” and “frustrated” in the double standards, Islamophobia, and Turkey-bashing of the Union.

Europe plans €4.45 billion in pre-accession spending for Turkey in 2014-2020, but only 360 million euros have been allocated so far.

The European Parliament has proposed reducing the transfer by €50 million next year, with another €30 million set aside for further cuts should the relationship with Turkey deteriorate even more. 

A vote is expected on Wednesday.