On 21 November the EA Vice President and Mayor of Lubianka, Jerzy Zajakala, participated in the meeting of the CoR Working group on relations with Turkey in Ankara. The COR members discussed about the recently published EU enlargement strategy report and on the progress of Turkey which acknowledges the importance of Turkey for the EU while at the same time identifies the challenges the country still has to address. The recent opening of the chapter on regional policy after 3 years stalemate in the negotiations has been reported as an important milestone as well as an opportunity for the CoR to reiterate the importance of involving the subnational level in the enlargement process.
A special focus has been given on the state of decentralisation in the country, in particular on the new law on Metropolitan cities and on Industrial relations.
Mr Jerzy Zajakala praised the revival of talks between EU and Turkey as dialogue should always prevail. "Although difficulties and divergences exist, the resumption of talks should be regarded positively. Both parties should unambiguously show their commitment to this project to help solve outstanding issues and make efforts to come up with a suitable framework governing the relations between the EU and Turkey".
