POLS 304 Local Government & Governance Multilevel Governance in the European Union and Governance in Turkey

EU and Turkey Turkey signed an association agreement with EEC (first step to membership) in Turkey submitted a formal application for membership in Turkey has been a candidate for EU membership since Accession negotiations started in As a major emerging economy and a member of NATO and the G20, Turkey is a key partner for the European Union.

Copenhagen criteria The accession criteria, or Copenhagen criteria (after the European Council in Copenhagen in 1993 which defined them), are the essential conditions all candidate countries must satisfy to become a member state. These are: political criteria: stability of institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for and protection of minorities; economic criteria: a functioning market economy and the capacity to cope with competition and market forces; administrative and institutional capacity to effectively implement the acquis* and ability to take on the obligations of membership.acquis The Union's capacity to absorb new members, while maintaining the momentum of European integration, is also an important consideration. The EU reserves the right to decide when a candidate country* has met these criteria and when the EU is ready to accept the new member.candidate country

acquis communautaire The "acquis communautaire"is a very important concept in the European Union. It covers all treaties, EU legislation, international agreements, standards, court verdicts, fundamental rights provisions and horizontal principles in the treaties such as equality and non- discrimination. In short: EU-law.

acquis communautaire The acquis is the body of common rights and obligations that is binding on all the EU member states. It is constantly evolving and comprises: the content, principles and political objectives of the Treaties; legislation adopted pursuant to the Treaties and the case law of the Court of Justice; declarations and resolutions adopted by the Union; instruments under the Common Foreign and Security Policy; international agreements concluded by the Union and those entered into by the member states among themselves within the sphere of the Union's activities. Candidate countries* have to accept the acquis before they can join the EU and make EU law part of their own national legislation. Adoption and implementation of the acquisare the basis of the accession negotiations*. Candidate countriesacquisaccession negotiations

Copenhagen criteria for Turkey The Progress Report in 2002 stated that Turkey did not fulfill the Copenhagen (1993) criteria of political and human rights. Political and human rights: “stability of institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for and protection of minorities.” COPENHAGEN CRITERIA Economic criteria declared to be fulfilled in 2003 Progress Report: harmonizing with EU in terms of electricity, financial services, agriculture and telecommunications. Progress Report in October 2004 acknowledged fulfillment of the political and human rights criteria. “Major political developments in the country led to the decision to open accession negotiations at the December 2004 European Council summit.” ROMANO PRODI, THE PRESIDENT OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION, Ankara, 14 January 2004

EU Multilevel Governance The multilevel governance approach considers the EU as a political system in its own right which shares many features with national political systems. According to Marks and Hooghe “multilevel governance emerges when experts from several tiers of government share the task of making regulations and forming policy, usually in conjunction with relevant interest groups.” (Hague and Harrop: 2007: 282) Multilevel governance sees European policy as the result of a constant coordination across different territorial levels including a supranational, national, regional and local level.

EU Multilevel Governance The main characteristics of the relationship between these different tiers are overlap and interdependence. However, this interaction illustrates only the vertical dimension of the European policy process. Multilevel governance theory also suggests the existence of a second, horizontal dimension. Hence, coordination not only takes place across different territorial levels but also within them. The result is a complex overlapping process which involves numerous actors that shape the final output according to their individual properties (demands, interests, resources and competencies).

EU Multilevel Governance As Stubbs characteristically states: "A multi-level governance perspective forces one to address processes of the supranationalisation, the decentralisation and the dispersal of authority as potentially coterminous, rather than engage in very narrow, linear, debates about the influence, or lack of influence, of international agencies." (Stubbs: 2005: 67)