At  the  Turkey-EU  Association Council that convened in  Luxembourg  on  11  April 2000   following   the   Helsinki  European  Council  where  Turkey  was   announced   as   a candidate  for  full membership to the EU, the decision was taken to  start  negotiations  on the  mutual  liberalization of services and public procurement. In this  framework,  the  first round  of negotiations on the liberalization of services and public procurement will be  held in  Ankara  on  17-18 October 2000. During these first round negotiations which  are  of  an exploratory  nature,  it  is envisaged to have a mutual exchange of  views  on  the  respective Turkish  and EU legislations  and to elaborate on the expectations of each  party  regarding these agreements.