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Cini: European Union Politics 2e

Chapter 26

Turkey and the EU

It was in the small hours of 4 October 2005 that the Council of the EU finally reached agreement on commencing accession negotiations with Turkey. The tough decision regarding the start of the membership talk shows how difficult the Turkey's accession into the EU is going to be, which many believe will take at least ten years.

Turkey signed a European association agreement as early as 1963 and the country submitted a membership application in 1987. Though the European Commission recommended against Turkish accession in 1989, the application remained on the table. Ten years later Turkey was accepted as a candidate country at the 1999 Helsinki summit. After some tough reforms (including abolishing the death penalty) were introduced by Ankara to meet the ' Copenhagen criteria', the Commission adopted a favourable position on the Turkish accession in 2004. The aforementioned Council decision accepted the Commission's recommendation and formally began the accession negotiation.

Turkey 's long-term struggle for its EU membership has been tricky for the EU because it involves both a technical and a political dimension. On the technical side, Turkey is a large but poor country. With a population about 15% of the EU-25, Turkey would shift the balance of power in the EU Council and the European Parliament. In addition, the EU budget would be under more pressures of structural reform in order to address the poor regions and huge agricultural sector of the country. On the political side, Turkey borders with Iran, Iraq and Syria, and its population is mainly Muslim. It would be an enormous challenge to cope with the (perceived) internal and external insecurity as a result of the Turkish accession.

Despite all these problems and risks, the Turkish accession may bring substantial benefits to the EU. Not only would Turkish membership settle the Cypriot dispute once for all, but also the EU would have considerable political leverage on the Middle-East. Because of this, the geopolitical position of Turkey also makes it important for the EU's security of energy supplies. Moreover, Turkey's huge population and young labour forces would also contribute to the growth of EU economy.

Web Links

Information campaign on EU enlargement, coordinated by European Movement International
www.european-movement.org/enlargement/index.php

The Economist articles on EU enlargement
www.economist.com/research/articlesBySubject/display.cfm?id=682266

Wikipedia on 'Enlargement of the European Union'
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enlargement_of_the_European_Union

Further Learning Resources

Jacoby, Wade (2003), The Enlargement of the European Union and NATO: Ordering from the Menu in Central Europe, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Schimmelfennig, Frank (2003), The EU, NATO and the Integration of Europe: Rules and Rhetoric, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Sedelmeier, Ulrich and Schimmelfennig, Frank (eds.) (2005), The Politics of European Union Enlargement: Theoretical Approaches, London: Routledge.