On 29 June 2005, the EU Commission adopted the negotiation guidelines for Turkey's accession to full membership in the union. The framework for negotiations was described "as the most severe adopted so far by the EU executive." Negotiation has tentatively been scheduled for 3 October 2005 and will take place if member states approve the draft and if Turkey extends the current trade agreement that it has with the EU to the ten newest EU member states. Although there has been private discusstion about granting "privileged partnership" to Turkey instead, negotiation continues toward full membership. The EU noted that "negotiations are an open-ended process, the outcome of which cannot be guaranteed beforehand" and explains that Turkey must fulfill all of the outlined obligations before gaining membership. Compiled from:
"Commission Drafts a Rigorous Draft Framework for Accession Negotiations with Turkey," Europa, (Press Release IP/05/807), 29 June 2005.
Vucheva, Elitsa, "EU Adopts Rigorous Negotiation Rules for Turkey," EUobserver, 29 June 2005.