On 4 March 1995, the Madrid-based daily newspaper El País comments on the agreement reached between the 15 European Union Member States and the Turkish delegation on the establishment of a customs union with Turkey. Once Greece lifts its veto, in exchange for agreement on certain issues (such as the start of negotiations with Cyprus for its accession to the EU), the customs union eventually comes into force on 1 January 1996. The aim of the union is to eliminate trade barriers for industrial products and processed agricultural products and to apply the EU’s common external tariff in Turkey.