Britain, Greece find agreement on EU reform issues (ANA – Thursday, 20 January 2000)

Greece and Britain’s European Affairs Ministers on Wednesday conferred at length on issues related to the European Union’s intergovernmental conference on reforming community institutions ahead of the EU’s enlargement.

British Minister for Europe Keith Vaz also met earlier with Foreign Minister George Papandreou, before the Greek minister left on his Turkish visit, and with National Economy and Finance Minister Yannos Papantoniou.

His talks with the Alternate Foreing Minister Christos Rokofyllos centred on examining issues to be brought forward for discussion at the intergovernmental conference.

Vaz said that there were quite a few points on which Greece and Britain were in agreement. “The disagreements are so few that the don’t even fill a page”, he said.

Britain, he added, supported Greece’s decision to apply for entry to the euro zone but Britain had yet to decide whether it, too, would apply for inclusion in economic and monetary union.

Responding to reporter’s questions, Vaz said that the British side had all the "respect and admiration” for Greece’s stance at the recent Eur Helsinki summit on the issue of Turkey’s candidancy status.

“Turkey has quite some way before it yet, before talks on its accession to the EU can begin” Vaz added.

He said Turkey was required to first deal with a series of political and economic issues, meeting all the criteria laid down, at a previous EU summin in Copenhagen.

“Both Britain and Greece can work together and with other partners so as to ensure these prerequisites are met”, Vaz said.

Rokofyllos said Greece accepted Turkey’s candidancy for membership in the EU in the belief that the deadlock between the two countries had to be overcome.

This move was to the advantage of both peoples, he said.

“We did it for a democratic Turkey, a European Turkey which will be a better neighbour and more constructive interlocutor, both for us and for all of Europe”, he said.