(LUXEMBOURG) - Turkey took another step Tuesday down the long road to joining the EU, opening two more of the 35 policy chapters that candidates must steer, but complained that "political" hurdles were impeding progress.

The 27 EU member states and Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan officially opened the chapters, on "company law" and "intellectual property law", in Luxembourg, bringing to eight the number of policy areas Turkey has opened since it began its accession talks in 2005.

This time the decision was taken by the 27 EU nations with little fuss and no fresh blocking move from France which, along with Austria and Cyprus, has opposed membership for mainly Muslim but secular Turkey.

Babacan, while expressing satisfaction that Tuesday's short meeting was "so successful" took issue with the EU for placing political obstacles in a process which it insisted should be merely about reaching the technical benchmarks.

"We would like to think that negotiations could advance in parallel to Turkey's technical readiness," Babacan said.

"Those should be the criteria, but this is not happening and we are very upset about this," he said.

"When these political concerns disappear then these chapters will be easily opened very fast," he added, citing Turkey's progress in reforms, a point also acknowledged by Dimitrij Rupel, foreign minister of Slovenia, which holds the EU presidency.

He cited examples, including France's refusal last year to open the chapter on economic and monetary policy, for which no benchmarks had been imposed by the European Commission.

He added, however, that he expected the French, who will assume the EU's rotating presidency next month, "will be fair, impartial and transparent".

"We believe our accession process will be further advanced during the French presidency," he added.

Turkey's progress through the accession process is still fraught with difficulties.

A total of 18 chapters are on hold and few remain that can be opened.

Eight were officially frozen in December 2006 due to Turkey's refusal to open its ports and airports to Cypriot ships and planes, while five are directly linked to accession and blocked by France.

EU member Cyprus is holding out on some, as is the European Commission, which supervises the accession process.

If all goes well for Turkey, officials suggest, three more chapters could be opened before the French presidency of the EU ends on December 31.

But progress might be hindered in coming months if Turkey's Constitutional Court bans the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), and party officials including Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Michael Leigh, the European Commission's director general for enlargement, indicated at the Luxembourg press conference, that seven more chapters could be opened in the coming months, if Turkey respects certain conditions.

General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC), 16-17 June 2008

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