An embassy like no other (video)

euronews

EU-Turkey

04/01 16:57 CET

Leading a team of around 15 EU diplomats, the EU Ambassador to Ankara, Turkey, Marc Pierini, has been on a visit the city of Bursa to explain the EU. The diplomats‘ mission is to meet the people of Turkey. During the trip they discuss Turkish accession to the EU with, among others, a baker and a builder. The builder asks what are the real chances of Turkey being able to join the EU. The ambassador replies that there are no guarantees, it is a matter of implementing laws. In recent years, support for accession to the EU has fallen in Turkey. It was over 70 percent in 2004 but is now only around 38 percent. Bursa is an industrial city where various large European and global companies are based, including Renault, Bosch, Fiat, and Coca Cola. There are close to 500 EU companies in the town. In December 2010, a year after the Lisbon Treaty came into force, the European Exterior Action Service started operations. The EU’s largest embassy is in Ankara, with a staff of 132. Compared with any other EU embassy, it has an enormous budget of around 2.5 billion euros and manages around 300 pre-accession projects in all areas across Turkey. The embassy does not only represent the EU to the Turkish government, but also has a mission towards the whole of Turkish society, and for that purpose holds information meetings. In Bursa, questions from local people focus on the problems of visas, mobility and financing projects. For example one woman who runs a children’s symphony orchestra complained about problems with the reimbursement of VAT. Ambassador Marc Pierini explained: “The first question they ask is about visas, but as everyone knows, I can’t give out visas. The visa situation is very frustrating, but it is not that bad because, after all, we do issue more than 700,000 visas a year.” The delegation also visits small villages including one that dates from the Ottoman Empire and which has been perfectly preserved. Children are a special priority at the EU Embassy. For 2010-2011, the budget for children’s rights was seven million euros. A centre was built in Bursa in 2009 as part of the EU’s “Internal Migration Integration Project”. It runs school activities for poor children who otherwise might be put to work. It is co-financed by the EU and the local council. The centre has a canteen, games rooms and classrooms. Every day 200 children eat here. There are also doctors, nurses and hairdressers. Gender equality at work is another priority area. A project called “Promoting Gender Equality in Working Life” has been launched in partnership with the Turkish, German and Austrian Ministries of Work and Social Affairs, under the umbrella of the EU delegation to Ankara. The budget for 2010-2011 is one million euros. With an eye on ecology, the women in the co-operative that has been set up make fabric bags to replace plastic ones, some of which are sold abroad. They started with a small financial grant from the EU Embassy. The founder of the co-operative says it is hard for small enterprises to get EU grants because of language barriers and a lack of technical expertise. Applying to set up an EU project has become big business in Turkey. To succeed, it is absolutely necessary to employ consultants, and EU project experts. The total finance available to support six gender equality projects - including economic inclusion, education and domestic violence – is around 62 million euros. But Nurcan Yalçin, the founder of the Kozadan Kelebege Association, complained: “Women’s associations just don’t get EU funding for their projects. You know why, it’s because applying has become big business. We don’t speak the language. We don’t know how to put a project together. Big companies have sprung up that put projects together, but they charge a lot to do that. The EU has to listen to us more.” So there is still no certainty that Turkey will eventually join the EU, but the EU is actively working towards this end. Its largest embassy is in Turkey and Turks are already living something of “the EU experience” thanks to this strong diplomatic mission to Ankara.

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http://www.euronews.net/2011/01/04/an-embassy-like-no-other/