 The debate about Turkey’s EU membership is not only a debate about letting in another country, but also a debate about what the EU is and should be in the future.  Turkey can find a place for itself in the EU only if the EU is perceived as a multicultural entity rather than a Christian club.

Turkey’s relations with the European Union (EU) date back to 1959 when Turkey applied for associate membership to the then European Economic Community (EEC). Association agreement was signed in *Turkey applied for full membership in 1987 but it was not until the establishment of the Customs Union in 1995 that the EU signalled that Turkey’s wish of joining might be fulfilled. *Turkey was excluded from the enlargement process at the European Council meeting in Luxembourg in *Turkey received the status of candidate country in 1999 at the Helsinki European Council. Accession negotiations were initiated in October 2005.

 A central element of the EU enlargement policy is the Copenhagen criteria (established in 1993) which the candidate countries must fulfil in order to obtain full membership.  Copenhagen criteria:  1. Political: stable institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for and protection of minorities  2. Economic: a functioning market economy and the capacity to cope with competition and market forces in the EU.  3. Adoption of the entire body of European legislation and its effective implementation through appropriate administrative and judicial structures.

 In 1999, before the Helsinki summit, the EU decided to adopt the principle of differentiation- which meant each candidate’s country’s length of negotiations depended on its level of preparation for accession.  This meant EU did not commit itself to any specific date of entry at the same time providing incentives for the candidate countries to continue to reform.  The latest added accession principle accepted in June 2006 is called the ‘absorption capacity’. This principle creates a safety valve for the members states as they can always delay enlargement on the grounds that EU is not ready to absorb new members.  This principle has been prevalent in the discussion over Turkish enlargement.

 Member states and their interests play a crucial role as they are the ultimate decision makers in the enlargement process.  The decisions given by the member states depend on the interests and prefences of the influental actors such as political parties, business communities, the media, civil society groups, academia and public opinion in each country.  The practice of Commission carrying out individual county progress reports was introduced in  The Commission’s practice of progress reports has significant agenda-setting power as Council apart from one exception, always followed the recommendations of the Commission.

*A country that wishes to join the EU has to submit a membership application to the Council. The country must meet Copenhagen criteria. The accession process begins when an applicant country is granted candidate status(yet this does not necessarily mean the beginning of accession negotiations).

*The Council can proceed to accession negotiations with a candidate country when the Commission assesses that the country is meeting the accession requirements. *The focus of the accession negotiations is on the candidate’s adoption and implementation of EU rules and procedures (acquis communautarie). The correct interpretation of acquis communautaire into national legislation and regulation is discussed.

 To facilitate the negotiations, the body of EU law is divided into chapters (such as free movement of capital, transport policy, energy etc).  When negotiations on all chapters are completed, an accession treaty is drafted. If it gets the support of the Council, the Commission and the European Parliament, the treaty is signed by the acceding country and all the EU member states.

 TURKEY – EEC RELATIONS The Association Agreement Greece initiated a contractual association with the EEC in June 1959, Turkey also did so, in July While Greece signed an Association Agreement in July 1961, Turkey signed the Ankara Agreement with the EEC in September The Association Agreement came into force on 1 December The Agreement aimed at establishing a customs union between the Community and Turkey and made reference to Turkish membership of the Community. The Agreement has three stages:

1. Preliminary Stage: During this stage, which was to be from 1964 to 1973, the EEC would give some direct financial aid to Turkey and establish preferential trade conditions with Turkey. 2. Transition Stage: This stage was to cover twenty-two years where the Community and Turkey would eliminate all tariffs and trade barriers in order to establish a customs union between Turkey and the Community. 3. Final Stage: Should the necessary progress be observed, the Community would examine the possibility of Turkey’s accession to the Community as a full member. The main driving force behind the Turkish application for the Associate Membership was mostly political rather than economic.

*In 1987 Turkey shocked the EC by submitting its official application for full membership to the EC. This was a premature application. However, the Community did not want to alienate Turkey. *Hence, the Commission prepared its official opinion and issued it in December ‘In essence, the Commission’s Opinion was a polite rebuff of the Turkish application.’

* Turkey signed the Customs Union Agreement in The Customs Union provided closer economic ties between Turkey and the EU. *For Prime Minister Çiller and many Turks, the Customs Union symbolized Turkey’s future full membership of the EU. For the EU, the Customs Union did not automatically mean guaranteed future membership for Turkey. As a matter of fact, the EU was keen on proceeding with the Customs Union through an association relationship and the EU had never provided a perspective of full membership to Turkey during the customs union negotiations.

 The Luxemburg Summit of the European Council held in 1997 explicitly excluded Turkey from the list of countries considered for potential full membership. The summit generated a deep sense of disappointment on the part of the Turkish political elite and the public who viewed the Customs Union as a step towards the European Union.  After the Luxembourg Summit, EU–Turkey relations deteriorated for two years until the EU Commission issued its 1999 Regular Report, where it recommended that Turkey be included as a candidate country in the enlargement process of the EU.

 The EU’s policy shift was surprising since it seemed unlikely that Turkey, in the course of just two years, had been able to solve the serious domestic political problems that the Commission had outlined in 1997 regarding the fulfilment of the Copenhagen criteria. Furthermore, the member states have showed considerable scepticism towards Turkey in 

 Why did the EU change its mind about Turkey in two years?  NATO’s operations in Kosovo in 1999 demonstrated the EU’s weak foreign policy as it was not capable of delivering immediate responses to international crisis on its own continent.  Commission expressed a need to develop stable relations with its neighbours in response to the danger of instability on the European continent. (antagonizing Turkey won’t help this aimed stability).  The social democratic wave in major countries in Europe that envisioned Europe as a multicultural entity rather than a Christian Club.  Change in Greece’s ( thanks to earthquake diplomacy in 1999) and Germany’s ( due to SD Schröder’s election in 1998) positions who opposed Turkey in 1997.

* After the Helsinki Summit where Turkey was declared as a “candidate country”, the EU Commission prepared the Accession Partnership for Turkey (AP Turkey) on 8 November 2000 where the EU put forward the conditions that Turkey has to satisfy in the short run (within one year) and in the medium run (within four years). *In response to the AP Turkey, Turkey prepared its National Program for the Adoption of the Acquis on 19 March 2001 where it committed to meeting the conditions in the AP Turkey in the short and the medium run.

 Soon after the Helsinki decision, Turkey PM Ecevit encouraged all parties to join forces and abolish the death penalty.  Four days after the summit, the Turkish government declared that it would ease the restriction on Kurdish TV.  AKP government also showed strong commitment to Copenhagen criteria by enhancing the democratization process and implementing neoliberal economic reforms demanded by the EU.  In response, the EU enhanced the political and financial cooperation with Turkey through the pre-accession strategy for Turkey that included enhanced financial assistance and political dialogue.

 Turkey started accession negotiations with the EU in October In the process of accession, the EU and Turkey will be discussing 35 policy areas or ‘chapters’.  Besides the Copenhagen criteria, Turkey’s negotiation framework, Turkey’s negotiation framework consists of three criteria that specifically refer to the case of Turkey:  Turkey’s unequivocal commitment to good neighbourly relations (Greece and Armenia) and its undertaking to resolve any outstanding border disputes.  Turkey’s continued support for efforts to achieve a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus Problem.  the fulfilment of Turkey’s obligations under the Association Agreement and its Additional Protocol- extending the Association Agreement to all new EU Member States (including the RoC).

*In December 2006, the Council decided to suspend part of the negotiations by freezing eight chapters due to Turkey’s denying access to Cypriot vessels and planes to its harbours and airports.

 According to this decision, until Turkey fulfills its commitments under the Additional Protocol to the Ankara Agreement, negotiations on these chapters will not be opened: (Free Movement of Goods, Agriculture and Rural Development, Freedom to Provide Services, Financial Services, Fisheries, Transport, Customs Union, External (economic/trade) Relations).

 Currently, the accession process has lost momentum because of the suspension of eight chapters in the negotiation process.The AKP government has shown reluctance in pushing the reform agenda forward. The party has been criticized for not using its broad public support to introduce larger reform measures and for human rights violations (detention of journalists&students etc).

 On the other hand, the constitutional changes adopted in the 2010 Referendum are praised by the European Commission as "a step in the right direction" especially in the areas of judiciary, fundamental rights and public administration in line with the Accession Partnership. Yet the lack of broad public consultation for and the limited scope of the constitutional reforms are mentioned as well.

 Right wing populism in EU member states  Increasing xenophobia against other religions. The rise of far- right in Austria, Denmark, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland meant that Turkey is increasingly potrayed as ‘un-European’ by extremist parties in member states governments.  Privileged partnership discussions:  Ambivalent policy towards Turkey’s accession pursued by the EU constitutes a major factor in the decreasing Turkish support for EU membership.  Merkel and Sarkozy’s suggestion of ‘privileged partnership’ includes an extension of the existing Customs Union and permits Turkey to participate in EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy. It also indicates an exception of integration into the areas of agriculture, free movement of people and structural policies and does not offer participation in decision making.

 Europe in a time of crisis: The ongoing crisis of the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty has led to uncertainty in the EU about the future direction of the European project. Many European leaders have stated that enlargement will not take place before EU institutional reforms have been carried out.  Global crisis inspired the threat of protectionism among the EU member states. Fears that economic recession will make EU voters even warier of further enlargements.  A settlement of the Cyprus dispute:  No negotiation chapters will be provisionally closed before Turkey enables access to Cypriot vessels and planes to its harbours and airports.  The anti-democratic practices in Turkey  After Obama, the bettering of relations of the US administration with both the EU and Turkey can contribute to US more actively pushing for Turkey’s inclusion in the EU.

Discussion Questions: Given that the conditions, other than the Copenhagen criteria, put forward to Turkey by the EU, should Turkey join the EU? Should Turkey accept a “privileged membership” rather than full membership?