Why is the accession of Turkey so important for the European Union?

Table of Contents

Introduction

EU-Turkey Relations: Historical Background

Possible Impact of Turkey’s Membership for the EU
a. Common Foreign and Security Policy
b. Economic Impact

Is Turkey a Problematic Candidate?
a. Economic Criteria:
b. Political Criteria

European Identity and Turkey: Cultural Issues

Conclusion

Bibliography:

Introduction

It has been more than fifty years since Turkey applied for European Economic Community (EEC) membership on 31 July 1959 and has been a candidate country since 1999. Nowadays, despite Turkey’s efforts to reform their system, is still not a member of the European Union. In order to become a Member of the European Union, Turkey have been reforming their economic and political system. The Accession of Turkey to the European Union will be challenging for both. However, if well managed, this can be a big opportunity for the EU and Turkey, thus necessary preparations need to take place before Turkish entrance. This paper aims to explain the important impact of Turkey’s accession for the European Union and the issues arising that causes the delay of Turkey’s accession. The first part of the essay will provide a historical background on the ongoing relations between Europe and Turkey. For the second part of the essay, I will then discuss the importance of Turkey’s accession for the European Union. In order to explain the importance of Turkey, I will explore the possible impact of Turkey’s full membership in Europe, by focusing on two areas, the common foreign and security policy and the possible economic impact. ‘Turkey, with its large, dynamic economy, is an important trading partner for the EU and a valuable component of EU competitiveness through the Customs Union. Turkey has a strategic location, including on energy security, and plays an important regional role.’^[1] For the final part of the essay, I will then move on to explaining as to why Turkey’s candidacy is so different from the other candidate countries, and if Turkey is a problematic candidate. Through the Copenhagen Criteria set by the European Union and, cultural differences, I will describe the decades of delay in achieving membership. Lastly, I will conclude the essay by addressing worries for the future and if Turkey will ever be a full member of the European Union.

EU-Turkey Relations: Historical Background

When Turkey applied for associate membership of the EEC in 1959 there were several factors involved, such as political, economical and security. In 1963, the Ankara Agreement was finally signed between Turkey and the EEC.^[2] The main aim of the Ankara Agreement was clearly stated in Article 2: ‘to promote the continuous and balanced strengthening of trade and economic relations between the Parties, while taking full account of the need to ensure an accelerated development of the Turkish economy and to improve the level of employment and the living conditions of the Turkish people’.^[3] The agreement was designed to provide a three-step process towards establishing a customs union between Turkey and EEC and perhaps lead to full membership of Turkey. This was described in Article 28: ‘As soon as the operation of this Agreement has advanced far enough to justify envisaging full acceptance by Turkey of the obligations arising out of the Treaty establishing the Community, the contracting parties shall examine the possibility of the accession of Turkey to the Community.’^[4] In 1971 the EEC and Turkey signed the Additional Protocol aiming to strengthen and broaden the economic and political relations between them. However, the agreement did not go as expected, and by 1980, after a military coup, relations between the EU and Turkey were damaged.^[5] Under the Article 237 of the EEC Treaty, which stated that any European country could apply for EU membership, Turkey applied for full EU membership in 1987. Phinnemore argues that ‘without doubt, the poor functioning, unsatisfactory development and near breakdown of the association on several occasions were the key factors of the Turkish government to apply for EC membership in April 1987’.^[6] However, Turkey’s application was rejected due to different negative factors such as political and economic issues in Turkey.

Moreover, the most remarkable change came in 1999, at the Helsinki Summit, when EU leaders decided to recognize Turkey as a candidate country.^[7] Two years later, the European Council adopts the EU-Turkey Accession Partnership (2001). This identified medium and short term objectives that would help Turkey fulfill the political and economic criteria of the agreement. By 2004, the EU Council decided to open negotiations to discuss Turkeys membership of the EU, and in October 2005 negotiations were formally opened.^[8] In the accession process, 35 chapters were set down for negotiation, while the EU Commission every autumn publish a ‘Progress Report’ on every potential or already candidate country. In 2006, Turkey refused to apply the ‘Additional Protocol’ in Cyprus and thus the EU Council decided that chapter number eight would not be opened. Later on, the EU Commission published a ‘Positive Agenda’ between the EU and Turkey, which brought fresh dynamics into their relations.^[9] At present, the chapters of the accession are still being reviewed and Turkey is still not a full member of the EU, although Turkeys accession to the EU is important.

Possible Impact of Turkey’s Membership for the EU

As stated in the EU Commission report, ‘enlargement is one of the EU's most powerful policy tools. It serves the EU's strategic interests in stability, security, and conflict prevention. It has helped to increase prosperity and growth opportunities and to secure vital transport and energy routes.’^[10] This shows that, there are many advantages for the EU to give full membership to Turkey. This will make the EU stronger and have a significantly large influence in the international arena. According to the EU Commission report (Issues Arising from Turkey’s Membership Perspective), the accession of Turkey is different from previous enlargement because of Turkey’s large population size, the geographical location, the cultural and religious characteristics of Turkey and its military potential.^[11] Turkey’s population is nearly seventy five million, with a 775,000 km land size and a huge Muslim population. Turkey’s accession is significant for Europe because by accepting Turkey it means that Europe is open to the Islamic world. Moreover, Turkey has geographical borders with Armenia, Iran, Iraq, Syria and the EU, thus if Turkey join the EU there will be a bridge between East and the West. In this section I will discuss the possible influence of Turkey’s full membership in the EU’s and especially on the (a) common foreign and security policy, (b) the political impact, and (c) the economic impact.

a. Common Foreign and Security Policy

Turkish membership can add an important set of diplomatic, political and cultural tools into the EU’s external relations. Turkey can affect many areas, such as, the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), because of the geographical position. As I mention above, the geographical boarder of Turkey is Middle East, Europe and Caucasus and thus this will increase the EU’s external relations and enhance the credibility of the EU policies.^[12] Consequently, the the’s border will reach South Caucasus, Iraq and Syrian and thus this will lead to an increase of Member States involvement with South-Eastern margins. Moving on, according to Prime Minister Recep Erdogan in 2004, there are several important assets that Turkey can offer to the EU foreign and security policy. Some of the objectives factors are that Turkey’s accession to the would lead to an extended European Neighbourhood policy. Turkey will then be a geographical hub for regional cooperation and a secure energy transport hub of oil and gas from Middle East, Russia and Caspian for the EU.^[13] As Emerson and Tocci discuss: “democratising Turkey would be the bridgehead of a modern, multi-cultural Europe right up to and alongside the ideological chaos and violence of the neighborhood beyond. Its civilian, military and human resources could be integrated with those of the EU and serve as a spearhead of the EU’s soft and not-so-soft power projection into the region”.^[14]

b. Economic Impact

Turkey’s accession to the EU will also bring major changes into the economical factor of the EU. According to World Bank Report on Gross domestic product 2012, with 789,257 million dollars GDP, Turkey is the seventeenth largest country in the world.^[15] Even though, Turkey’s economy and politics were instable in the past, after the 2001 economic crisis, Turkish has entered a transition period. During the transaction period, Turkey became open to foreign investment and created more international trade. But the most important is that Turkey achieved sustainable growth and macroeconomic stability and became a stronger country.^[16] Another economic effect that Turkey will have on Europe is the increase of trade between Turkey and other Member States. Since 1995, Customs Union had restrict trading on industrial goods between Turkey and MS, Thus this will lead to accession to the internal market may increase trade and investment between both.^[17] The EU will have access to markets that previously it was difficult or maybe even impossible to enter and will attain new economic potentials. Through cheap and reliable flow of raw material, consistent source of energy and trained workforce the EU’s economy will change rapidly. ‘Cheap and skilled Turkish workforce, the flexible Turkish business approach, and the lower rates that Turkey can maintain in production costs can enable the EU to stand competition from markets such as China.’^[18] Although, its difficult to estimate the impact that a candidate country will have on the EU budget in the future, the Commission stated that ‘Turkey would qualify for significant support from the structural and cohesion funds over a long period of time’.^[19] Turkey’s accession will lead to Turkey becoming one of the largest net beneficiaries. An important issue of Turkish membership is the possible consequences of migration from Turkey into other Member States. Until now, migration from Turkey to other Member States is still restricted, but if Turkey becomes full member of the EU then this will mean a free movement of goods, capital and people.^[20] Turkey’s accession to the EU will lead to a new era for the European Union.

Is Turkey a Problematic Candidate?

In order for the EU to accept Turkey’s accession, ‘Turkey had to continue its process of democratisation and protection of human rights, establish relations of good neighbourliness with Greece and seek a just settlement of the Cyprus problem.’^[21] Firstly, even if Europe wants Turkey to become a full member, they need to satisfy the Copenhagen criteria. The Copenhagen Criteria is used for any country that wish to become member of the European Union must meet certain conditions and principles set out by Article 49 and Article 6(1) of the Treaty on European Union.^[22] These are called accession criteria and were established by the Copenhagen European Council in 1993. To join the EU, a candidate state needs to: ‘(a) Political criteria: stability of institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for and protection of minorities; (b) Economic criteria: a functioning market economy and the capacity to cope with competition and market forces; (c) Administrative and institutional capacity to effectively implement the acquis and ability to take on the obligations of membership.’^[23] Any successful candidate then needs to accept and adopt the ‘Acquis Communautaire’ set by the EU. As a candidate country, Turkey needs to satisfy the Copenhagen Criteria. In this section I will analyse the Copenhagen criteria, as well as, other reasons that makes Turkey a unique candidate.

a. Economic Criteria:

In order to reach the economic objectives of the Copenhagen criteria, the European Commission has laid down four subjects: the existence of a functioning market economy, capacity to compete in the EU markets, EMU and lastly Acquis Communautaire.^[24] This section examines the progress of Turkey in the economic criteria, but focuses on the changes that still need to happen in the economic system. Firstly, Turkey has made a remarkable progress into creating a functioning market economy and develops their economic relations with the EU and the capacity to cope with the competitive market of the Union. According to the Pre-Accession Economic Programme for 2012-15, is established on the supposition of a moderate growth and an additional reduction of the existing account deficit of Turkey. Even though this shows a massive progress for Turkey, they still have serious difficulties in meeting all of the economic criteria such as, the external deficit still remain large.^[25] Also, the annual GDP growth had fallen from 2011 (8.8%) to 2012 (2.2%), where this shows the instability and weakness within the system. Another issue is the fiscal policy of Turkey. It has been less reactive to the needs to improve the macroeconomic and public expenditures have become more inelastic. Thus, Turkey needs to take further measures to improve their macroeconomic stability and the fiscal sustainability.^[26] Moreover, if we compare the Euro zone with Turkey, there may be a fall in the GDP of Turkey but is still higher from the GDP growth of Euro zone.^[27] Moving on, if Turkey enters the EU, Turkey’s participation in the EMU would be bring instability, because of the unstable fiscal policies and the weak macroeconomic system. The CAP will probably be another issue for the EU, as Turkey will receive considerable transfers within the framework of CAP and Turkish contributions to the EU budget will be comparatively small.^[28] Turkish economy still is vulnerable to financial uncertainties and there should be an improvement on the macroeconomic policy mix.^[29] Overall, Turkey has managed to create a more liberal and privatize economic market.

The acquis communautaire, is set out in thirty five chapters and it includes chapters like Freedom of workers, Freedom of Movement of Goods, Energy, Transport Policy.^[30] Some of the chapters have been frozen, while other are now closed due to political motivated blocks from Cyprus and France. Also, there is less sate intervention and better conditions for competition. However, still there are more problems to solve such as, unemployment, foreign debt, inflation and the fact that Turkey remains an underdeveloped economy. Additionally, due to the successful reform programmes, Turkey’s economy has become more robust and has well integrated with the EU. Turkey’s reform programmes may lead to Turkey’s success of adopting most of the Acquis communautaire, even though there are some chapters that might cause problems for MS, such as free movement of workers, Regional Policy and CAP.^[31]

b. Political Criteria

Accession into the EU, candidate members need to demonstrate their stable political system and their obedience on the EU laws and human rights. Historically, Turkey has had a hard political past, although now they are in the process of westernization. The EU except Turkey to work further into improving the principles of democracy and the rule of law, respect the human rights, and protect the rights of minorities. Conversely, Turkish democracy has been facing difficulties into providing basic freedom rights and respects the minority rights. There are some areas, which have been identified as problematic, and they need to undertake major reforms. Those are the Kurdish issue, Cypriot Political problem, violation of human rights and political scandals. Firstly, human rights violations in Turkey are still a major issue for Turkey’s accession in the EU. International organizations, such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have continuously mentioned about their worries towards Turkey’s violations of human rights.^[32] In late May, Turkish authorities committed human rights violation over protesters who tried to protect the Gezi Park. As Andrew Gardner stated, ‘the attempt to smash the Gezi Park protest movement involved a string of human rights violations on a huge scale. They include the wholesale denial of the right to peaceful assembly and violations of the rights to life, liberty and the freedom from torture and ill-treatment.’^[33] After the Gezi Park protests, new laws had to be established in order to monitor the actions of the police, an independent supervisory body. However, the Law Enforcement Monitoring Commission still remains pending.^[34] Furthermore, there has been little progress on freedom of expression but still there are many restrictions in media, as many journalists are still going to prison if they oppose government or any political leader. Overall, human rights are being daily violated in Turkey and this makes it hard for EU to accept Turkey’s accession, as one of the cornerstones of European values is the protection of human rights.^[35]

Another EU concern is the protection of minorities’ rights in Turkey, especially Kurdish and non-Muslim minorities. The EU criticises Turkey upon the Kurdish issue, and that Turkey failed to guarantee minority rights. On September 2013, PM Erdogan has announced major reforms on the political system and especially established new Kurdish rights. Major changes in the approach towards the Kurdish society were introduced such as, Kurdish can now use their Kurdish names and Kurdish education will be broadened.^[36] Although this is a historical moment and an important transaction period for Turkey, is still a crucial issue for Turkey’ accession to the EU. Besides that, Turkey has not a mature European-style democracy.

In addition, what considers being one of the most important obstacles for Turkey’s accession in the EU is Cyprus. As soon as Cyprus became member of EU in 2004, the Cypriot government has interfered with Turkish negotiations and blocked the opening of chapter six and eight because Turkey has ban on trade with Turkey.^[37] UN is now working on a new solution for the Turkish- Cypriot issue and by 2014 there would be a plan in place where people can vote.^[38] In the Northern part of Cyprus, Turkish Cypriot is heavily dependent on Turkish government and economy. However, Turkish Cypriot citizens are facing high standard of livings with low paid jobs and corrupted officials. This shows that Turkey has not yet become stable and healthy government and Greeks feel insecure with the Turkish military existence in the North part of the island.^[39] However, according to the Turkey’s Progress Report 2013, Turkey has made no progress on stabilising bilateral relations with Cyprus and has not lifted the veto of Cypriot membership in several international organisations.^[40] The EU wants to end this occupation with peaceful manners, as they are not supporters of military interventions.

Last but not least, the latest political scandals in Turkey will definitely distract Turkey’s accession to the EU and the government reforms. After the Gezi Park event, bigger and worst scandals followed for the Turkish government. In December 2013, political scandals provoke in Turkey with the involvement of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s goverenemnt, accusing them for bribery, money laundry, and tender rigging.^[41] After the corruption scandals in the government, riots erupt in Turkey. Turkey is well known for the military coups and intervenes with political issues, but this time Turkish Armed Forces stated that they do not want to be involved with political issues.^[42] This is a big step for Turkey’s democracy, as military is always involved with issues like this. However, in January 2013, Turkey’s top general was arrested for government coup plot. This is the first time in Turkish history were a former chief of the Turkish military has been arrested for military coup.^[43] As Yalcin Akdogan, Mr Erdogan’s chief political adviser stated, ‘Those who conspire against their country’s national army, national intelligence, national bank, and a civilian government that has won the hearts of its people aren’t doing any good for the country.’^[44] A spokeman from European Commission was asked to comment about the events and the response was ‘we urge Turkey, as a candidate country committed to the political criteria of accession, including the application of the rule of law, to take all the necessary measures to ensure that allegations of wrongdoing are addressed without discrimination or preference in a transparent and impartial manner.’^[45] To sum up, this is a difficult time for Turkey as their political system is going through a crisis with political scandals and corruptions. After these events, Turkey’s negotiation with EU will be affected, as Turkey is not satisfying the political criteria of Copenhagen Criteria.

[...]

^[1] Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council, Enlargement Stragety and Main Challenges 2013-2014, (COM 2013, 700 final)

^[2] Harun Arıkan, Post Helsinki, is Turkey in the Enlargement Process?, Nanette Neuwahl (ed.), European Union Enlargement: Law and Socio-Economic Changes, Les Editions Themis, Montreal, 2004, pp 284

^[3] Republic of Turkey Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ankara Agreement, http://www.mfa.gov.tr/ sub.en.mfa?6ff60bd9-ffd0-4ac2-a177-f7438895084f (accessed November 14, 2008)

^[4] ibid

^[5] Stivachtis A. Y., The State of European Integration, Ashgate Publishing Limited, 2007, pp 113

^[6] Phinnemore D., Association: Stepping-Stone or Alternative to EU Membership, UACES, Sheffield Academic Press, pp 111

^[7] Christensen B. M., EU- Turkey relations and the functioning of the EU: Mobilizing Local Networks for a Better Informed Dialogue on Turkey’s Accession to the EU, Danish Institute for International Studies, May 2009, pp 6

^[8] Delegation of the European Union to Turkey: History, available at: http://www.avrupa.info.tr/ en/turkey-the-eu/history.html

^[9] Republic of Turkey Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy: Turkey and the EU, http://www.mfa.gov.tr/relations-between-turkey-and-the-european-union.en.mfa

^[10] European Commission, Enlargement Strategy and Main Challenges 2007-2008, 6.11.2007, http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/pdf/key_documents/2007/nov/strategy_paper_en.pdf , pp 1

^[11] European Commission, Issues Arising From Turkey’s Membership Perspective, 6.10.2004, http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/archives/pdf/key_documents/2004/issues_paper_en.pdf, pp 4

^[12] European Commission, Issues Arising From Turkey’s Membership Perspective, 6.10.2004, http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/archives/pdf/key_documents/2004/issues_paper_en.pdf, pp 7

^[13] Pinto C. M., Turkey’s Accession to the European Union in terms of impact on the EU’s secutrity and defense policies- potential and drawbacks, Instituto Brasileiro de Relações Internacionais, vol. 53, 2010, pp 96

^[14] Emerson M. and and Tocci N., Turkey ad a Bridgehead and Spearhead- Integrating EU and Turkish Foreign Policy. EU- Tukrey Working Papers, Centre for European Policy Studies, No 1, August 2004, pp 34

^[15] The World Bank, Gross Domestic Product 2012, December 2013, http://databank.worldbank.org/ data/download/GDP.pdf

^[16] Belke A., Turkey in Transition to EU Membership: Pros and Cons Of Integrating a Dynamic Economy, Perception, Spring 2005: 54, www.sam.gov.tr/perceptions/volume10/spring2005/ asangarbelkeson.pdf, September 2008, pp 10

^[17] European Commission, Issues Arising From Turkey’s Membership Perspective, pp 14-16

^[18] Bal I, Özcan M. and Laçiner S., European Union with Turkey: The Possible Impact of Turkey’s Membership on the European Union, ISRO Publication, April 2005, pp 76

^[19] European Commission, Issues Arising From Turkey’s Membership Perspective, 6.10.2004, http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/archives/pdf/key_documents/2004/issues_paper_en.pdf, pp 5

^[20] Lammers K., The EU and Turkey- Economic Effect of Turkey’s Full Membership, Intereconomics, Economic Trends, September/October 2006, pp 284

^[21] ENA, The Case of Turkey - Centre Virtuel de la Connassance sur L'Europe. European Navigator (ENA): http://www.ena.lu/the_case_of_turkey-2-17462, 2010

^[22] Europa, Accession Criteria, http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/glossary/accession_criteria_ copenhague_ en.htm

^[23] European Commission, Accession criteria, 2012, http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/policy/glossary/ terms/accession-criteria_en.htm

^[24] Konings J. and Faucompret E., Turkish Accession to the EU: Satisfying the Copenhagen Criteria, Routledge, 2008, pp 49

^[25] European Commission, Turkey 2013 Progress Report, (COM(2013) 700 final), Brussels, 16.10.2013, pp 18

^[26] European Commission, Regular Report on Turkey’s Progress towards Accession, (COM (2002) 700 final), Brussels, 2002

^[27] Underscetariat of Treasury, Turkish Economy, January 2014, pp 19

^[28] Lammers K., The EU and Turkey- Economic Effects of Turkey’s Full Membership, Economic Trends, pp 285

^[29] European Commission, Issues Arising From Turkey’s Membership Perspective, 6.10.2004, http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/archives/pdf/key_documents/2004/issues_paper_en.pdf, pp 16

^[30] Dinan D., Encyclopedia of the European Union, the European Union Series, Palgrave Macmillan, 2000, pp 2

^[31] Konings J. and Faucompret E., Turkish Accession to the EU: Satisfying the Copenhagen Criteria, Routledge, 2008, pp 150

^[32] Jongerden J. and White J. P., Turkey’s Alevi Enigma: A Comprehensive Overview, Koninklijke Brill, 2003, pp 71

^[33] Gardner Andrew, Amnesty International’s expert on Turkey, October 2013

^[34] European Commission, Turkey 2013 Progress Report, (COM(2013) 700 final), Brussels, 16.10.2013, pp 6

^[35] Toghill J., Are the official economic and political obstacles to Turkey’s EU accession merely a ‘fig leaf’ covering real unofficial cultural and religious reservations?, Vol. 6, University of Leeds, 2011/2012, pp 9

^[36] Yildiz G., Turkey’s Erdogan announces Kurdish reforms, BBC Turkish, September 2013

^[37] Tocci N. and Huber D., Global turkey in Europe: Political, Economic and Foreign Policy Dimensions of Turkey’s Evolving Relations with the EU, Istituto Affari Internazionali, 2013, pp 13

^[38] Rettman A., Turkey and EU restart membership talks, 6.11.2013, http://euobserver.com/ foreign/122001

^[39] Baştürk, Melike, "The Issue of Cyprus in the EU Accession of Turkey," Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union: Vol. 2011, Article 4, 2011, Available at: http://scholarship.claremont.edu/urceu/vol2011/iss1/4

^[40] European Commission, Turkey 2013 Progress Report, (COM(2013) 700 final), Brussels, 16.10.2013, pp 17

^[41] Raufoglu A., Analysts say Turkey’s corruption probe is a threat to political stability, EU bid, SES Türkiye, 23.12.2013

^[42] Letsch C., Turkish army says it will not get involved in political corruption scandal, the guardian Alpha, 27.12.2013, http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/27/turkish-army-political-corruption-scandal

^[43] The Telegraph Foreign Staff, Turkey’s top general arrested for government coup plot, The telegraph, 6.1.2014

^[44] Peker E., Turkey’s Military Moves Against coup Cases as Judiciary Fights Government, The Wall Street Journal: Europe, 3.1.2014

^[45] AFP, EU Voices concern over Turkey, Global Times, 9.1.2014, http://www.globaltimes.cn/ content/836502.shtml#.Us38h2RdWFd