EU May Take Turkey to Court to Help Smooth Obstacles to Entry

The European commission is considering whether to refer to the European court of justice one of the main obstacles in Turkey's membership talks amid growing fears that they could founder next month.

The court could be asked to rule on Turkey's refusal to open its ports and airports to Cyprus, a move that would buy the commission breathing space. It would defer the most contentious area of the talks until after next year's general election in Turkey.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister, will not be able to show any flexibility on such a touchstone issue in an election year, a point reinforced yesterday when the foreign ministry said it had no plans to open its ports to Cyprus.

Handing the ports dispute over to the court would break new ground because no country hoping to join the EU has ever been taken to the court. The proposal shows how seriously Brussels takes the possibility of what has been dubbed a possible "train crash" in membership talks.

The commission described the plan as speculation. But an anonymous commission official told the Financial Times: "We have to find ways and means to muddle through the Turkish elections."

The crisis could occur when Olli Rehn, Europe's enlargement commissioner, issues his annual progress report on Turkish entry on October 24. Mr Rehn, who could raise the court plan in his report, is expected to echo a recent report which criticised Turkey for slowing the pace of reform on human rights and for refusing to open ports and airports to Greek Cyprus.

Turkey agreed in 2004 to extend a customs union to all 25 members. Ankara, which acknowledges this covers Cyprus, says it will not open its ports to the Greek half of the island until the EU ends its trade embargo on the Turkish half.