Cyprus blocking Turkish entry to EU

The EU on Wednesday opened negotiations with Turkey on the issue of food safety. On the final day of its EU Council Presidency Spain gave at best a symbolic boost to the accession negotiations, according to an analysis in the conservative daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung: "There are only three negotiating chapters left that are not in some way being blocked by the EU. Eight central chapters alone, from the free movement of goods to agriculture, were blocked unanimously by all member states four years ago because of a customs dispute between the EU and Turkey: the issue is that Turkey is refusing to extend its customs union with the EU to Cyprus. Other chapters cannot be opened because individual members states have raised objections, most frequently Cyprus. If the EU continues to open only one or two chapters in half a year, then negotiations with Turkey will reach an impasse at the end of next year at the latest."

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