EU enlargement not threatened by Irish "No"-Rehn

LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) - Ireland's rejection of the European Union's reform treaty does not diminish the bloc's commitment to admitting new members from the Balkans and Turkey, EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said in an interview.

Rehn appeared to contradict the president of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Poettering, who said the Irish referendum "No" meant further expansion of the 27-nation Union was impossible for now, with the possible exception of Croatia.

"Despite current difficulties related to the Lisbon treaty, the European Union sticks to its word concerning the EU perspective of southeastern Europe, that is the Western Balkans and Turkey," Rehn told Reuters in an interview.

"On Tuesday, we'll have concrete proof that the EU accession process is moving ahead as we open some chapters in the accession conference with both Croatia and Turkey."

The EU's 80,000 pages of community law, which candidate countries have to adopt, is divided into 35 policy areas, known as chapters.

Croatia is at the front of the queue of countries vying to join the bloc and hopes to conclude negotiations next year.

Rehn said Zagreb must act fast to reform its judiciary and subsidized shipbuilding industry and step up the fight against corruption if it wanted to meet that ambitious timetable.

"We have communicated the precise conditions to the government of Croatia. They know it very well," he said.

"We need certain measures to step up judicial reform; we need to ensure the independence of the judiciary; we need improved structures to fight corruption and we need to see results. And we are still evaluating the restructuring plans of the shipbuilding companies. That is work in process."

TURKEY IN QUESTION

The Lisbon treaty was designed to give the bloc stronger leadership with a long-term president of the European Council of EU leaders, an enhanced foreign policy supremo with a real diplomatic service, easier decision-making rules and a greater say for the national and European parliaments.

Without the treaty, which must be ratified by all member states to take effect, the EU requires separate agreements on the number of parliament seats and weighted votes in the council of ministers for each newcomer.

The European Parliament has said in a non-binding resolution that there should be no new accession as long as the Lisbon treaty is not in force.

"As long as the Lisbon treaty is not in force, there can be no further accessions to the EU, with the possible exception of Croatia," Poettering told Germany's Bild am Sonntag newspaper.

The main impact of the Irish vote on enlargement may be to reinforce those who argue that Turkey is too big, poor and culturally different to join the bloc.

French Agriculture Minister Michel Barnier appeared to take that line on Sunday when he said the referendum had showed that citizens were afraid of an EU "without borders and limits".

EU officials are concerned that Turkey may severely harm its membership prospects in the coming months if, as expected, its constitutional court bans the ruling AK party and bars leading members, including Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, from office.

Rehn declined to speculate on whether the EU would suspend accession negotiations, formally or informally, in that case but said it was bound to have an impact.

"Closing down political parties is not business as usual in a normal democracy in Europe and it is essential that the ruling of the constitutional court respect European principles of democracy and the rule of law," he said.

(editing by Ingrid Melander and xxx)