Turkey deal a plus for luckless EU presidency

HELSINKI, Dec 13 (Reuters) Finland managed to avert a train wreck with EU candidate Turkey in the twilight of its presidency of the European Union but it has little else to show from a lacklustre term leading the bloc.

Many initiatives in its six months in the chair ended in disappointment, with the 25-nation union in a state of gloom.

Monday's Finnish-brokered deal among foreign ministers for a partial freeze on Ankara's accession talks prevented a total breakdown with the Turks and avoided this week's regular meeting of EU leaders turning into a crisis summit on Turkey.

It was some consolation after Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja failed to broker a deal on Cyprus trade meant to induce Turkey to open its ports and airports to traffic from Nicosia.

The Brussels summit, tomorrow and Friday, will mainly focus on the bloc's enlargement strategy, and European leaders are set to endorse the slowdown in Turkey's bid.

But they will also discuss ways to improve decision-making in justice and home affairs, where the Finnish presidency suffered a setback in its aim of closer cooperation.

That had been one of its main goals, along with improving EU relations with Russia, which also ran into difficulties.

''To some extent they have been held hostage to two external relations issues with the EU, Turkey and Russia,'' said Antonio Missiroli of the European Policy Centre think-tank.

''They did well on Turkey. They did what they could on an issue that will haunt the EU for a while,'' he told Reuters.

On relations with Russia it had less success.

Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen presented a united EU front to President Vladimir Putin at a summit in October, but a month later the EU was unable to agree on launching talks with Moscow on a new strategic partnership.

Poland vetoed the move, refusing to back down in a fight with Moscow over food trade, despite a last-minute Friday night dash to Warsaw by Vanhanen in a bid to cool brows.

''No matter how irresponsible one thinks Poland was, maybe the presidency should have been acting a little bit earlier on this,'' Missiroli said.

Analysts and diplomats gave Finland credit for its handling of EU crisis management during the war in Lebanon.

But the EU's political doldrums ahead of French elections next year made it a tough time to be in the hot seat.

HOME AFFAIRS HIT Finland's ambition to build on a leadership role in justice and home affairs it established in Tampere in 1999 by proposing another great leap forward in police and judicial cooperation fell flat on its face in September.

EU ministers rebuffed a Finnish proposal to move to majority voting on policies involving counter-terrorism and cross-border crime-fighting. Critics said the Finns might have aimed lower, given the sullen mood following the defeat of the EU's draft constitution in French and Dutch votes last year.

''That was one of the weak points,'' said Teija Tiilikainen, head of European studies at Helsinki University. ''Finland wasn't good in compromise-building.'' She said the Finns could also have done better in trying to forge a consensus on working-hours legislation.

Ministers rejected a presidency proposal for Britain to keep its opt-out from limits on working hours, and their decision also blocked other less contentious but more urgent changes.

Helsinki did manage to steer to a successful conclusion deals on cross-border trade in services and on regulating chemicals in everyday products that were already in the works.

But it made little headway in its declared aim of boosting EU-US relations. Hopes of top-level talks were quietly dropped and even a meeting of foreign ministers was scrapped.

REUTERS BDP BST1429