The Possibility for Further Enlargement of the European Union - Case Study Example

European Union Enlargement: The Case of Turkey Name Institution Name Course Name and Code Date Introduction The process of enlarging European Union membership is regarded as an extraordinary opportunity for furthering political stability as well as promoting Europe’s economic prosperity. The membership to the EU has been on the rise since its inception; the number EU member states increased from 15 since 2004 to the current 28. The enlargement process has brought in states from Eastern and Central Europe; this is considered a fulfillment of the historic pledge of further continent integration through means that are peaceful. The newest member to the Union is Croatia; acceded to the EU on 1st July, 2013. The management of the EU enlargement process is slow, cautious and careful and is a powerful tool which has significantly aided in transforming European states into affluent and functioning democracies. Some observers argue that EU enlargement process will probably reach its limits in the near future in terms of both geographic as well as public enthusiasm. This paper using Turkey, discusses the possibility for further enlargement of the EU together with the desirability of further enlargement. Possibility for Further Enlargement Membership to the EU is open to any state in Europe provided that the interested party fulfills the EU’s political and economical criteria for membership (Sajdik & Schwarzinger 2011). Accordingly, the enlargement of the EU is more of a political process; the accession steps demand for unanimous agreement of all the 28 existing member states (Engert 2010). In this regard, the relationship and/or conflict of the EU candidate with any individual member state have significant influence on its EU accession prospects together with the timeline (Cengiz & Hoffmann 2013). Given this establishment, the possibilities for further enlargement of the EU are significant and hence more countries from Europe are expected to accede (Akcay & Akipek 2013). For instance, the current official candidates for membership recognized by the EU are Turkey, Iceland, Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro (BBC NEWS 2014). These official candidates are at different stages of the process of accession. Turkey’s accession negotiations have been underway since 2005. According to the Copenhagen criteria, any European country can apply for EU membership provided it meets the set core political economic criteria; the Maastricht Treaty. For instance, the Copenhagen criteria for membership to the EU demand that the candidate achieves political stability which guarantees democracy, human rights, the rule of law, and protection and respect for minorities. Consequently, the candidate should have a functioning market economy which has the capacity and ability to cope with market forces and competitive pressure within the EU (Akcay & Akipek 2013). Similarly, the membership applicant must have the ability to take on membership obligations such as adherence to the political, economic and monetary objectives of the union (Rogers, Scannell & Walsh 2012). Additionally, EU must be in position to take in new members and thus it is only EU member states that decide when they are ready to accept a new member. After a state sends an application to be a member of the EU, the application initiates a technically complex process together with a sequence of procedural evaluations (Akcay & Akipek 2013). Concurrently, the enlargement process of the EU is a more of political process whereby approximately all steps along the accession path demand for unanimous agreement of the existing member states. The negotiations for accession require the candidate state to adopt as well as implement EU treaties, laws and regulations. The rules and regulations of the EU are referred to as acquis communautaire; 144,000 pages which are divided into 35 subject-related chapters. Amongst the current 5 official candidate states to the EU, Turkey’s bid for EU membership is long-standing; however, the relationship between the EU and Turkey historically has been associated with a series of ups and downs (Archick & Morelli 2014). Despite EU member states supporting close association with Turkey, there exist myriad divisions among member states (Akcay & Akipek 2013). EU member states are mainly concerned about the Turkey’s political system, large Muslim population, human rights record, and economy. In this perspective, Turkey’s membership application status is the primary source of tension between the EU and Turkey (Engert 2010). The country’s aspirations to join EU can be traced back to the 1960s; the Ankara Agreement of 1963 was established with a singular objective of developing closer economic relationships between the EU and Turkey. The country’s application for full European Community full membership in 1987 was rejected (BBC NEWS 2014). Progress towards accession was revived in 1995, when EU and Turkey custom union were operationalized. Turkey was declared eligible to join the EU in 1997 and in 1999; the country was recognized as EU’s official candidate for membership (Akcay & Akipek 2013). This notwithstanding, EU still asserted that Turkey must comply fully with economic and political criteria for membership prior to accession talks commencement. The Accession Partnership between EU and Turkey was first adopted in 2001 which compelled Turkey to define its political and economic priorities to address for her to adopt and implement standards and legislation of the EU. However, during the EU summit of December 2002, negotiation for accession was not started due to the fact that some EU member states argued that, Turkey had not exhaustively fulfilled the membership criteria. Similarly, Turkey’s stance against Cyprus was also brought into question (Zihnioglu 2013). In the same line of discussion, in 2004, EU declared that Turkey’s progress on judicial, legislative and economic reforms were sufficient to allow accession talks; the accession talks were set to begin in October 2005 on two conditions: more reform legislation should be enforced, and agreeing to extend her existing agreement with EU as well as its customs union to new EU member states. The accession talks were eventually opened in October 2005. The negotiations between EU and Turkey on the acquis started in 2006; up to now 14 chapters of the acquis have been opened. The progress has been slow and complicated due to the delicate relationship between Turkey and Cyprus. In December 2006, opening of further acquis 8 chapters was delayed; these chapters apparently deal with customs union (Engert 2010). For instance, Turkey had refused to open its airports and ports to planes and ships from Greek Cypriot (Akcay & Akipek 2013). The country was also required to comply to Additional Protocol to Cyprus. Due to this, EU decided to close provisionally negotiation on other chapters as well pending Turkey’s compliance to the set standards. Due to the above difficulties regarding Turkey’s membership negotiations, the European Commission launched the Positive Agenda in 2012 to reinvigorate the Turkish-EU relations as well as propel the accession process. The positive agenda required Turkey to align its legislation with the EU acquis, visas, energy, political reforms and fundamental rights, and counterterrorism (Engert 2010). In early 2013, Turkey’s EU accession hopes were high as the one more acquis chapter was opened for negotiation. In June 2013, it was agreed to open officially the regional policy chapter; the actual talks were however delayed due to Turkey’s harsh crackdown on anti-government protesters. In November the same year negotiations began, but to date little has been accomplished (BBC NEWS 2014). Desirability for Further Enlargement Observers of the Turkey’s accession to EU membership allude that the process has had a major boost on Turkey’s reforms and democratization (Akcay & Akipek 2013). For instance, the process has enabled the transformation of Turkey’s political and military institutions, the country’s leadership as well as its political culture across all government levels. The country’s economy has also received a major forward thrust through the accession process (Erzan & Kirisci 2013). For example, Turkey’s customs union with the EU is a significant tool that has ensured increased economic growth together with Turkey’s economic competitiveness. Being EU’s official candidate for membership, Turkey also receive $1 billion annually from the union to help it in its pursuit to meet EU standards and implementing economic and political reforms as well. The accession process has also aided Turkey in forging closer ties with other European countries (Engert 2010). The closer economic ties between Turkey and the EU have grown and expanded significantly since the inception of the accession process; approximately half of exports from Turkey flow to Europe (BBC NEWS 2014). The ever growing strong Turkey’s economy also provides a significantly large market for European goods and service and is expected to grow in the long run. This is a clear indication that Turkey and Europe need each other for prosperity of the large Europe (Engert 2010). However, it is important to note that while EU has professed its enlargement commitment, various policy makers and citizens within EU are cautious about expansion particularly to countries from Eastern Europe including Turkey. For example, Turkey has a population of approximately 80 million people, and thus it would rival Germany as the biggest EU country based on population (Akcay & Akipek 2013). Accordingly, notwithstanding the growing Turkey’s economy, some member states to the EU are worried and fear the influx of Turkish laborers who will have the power to work and live in existing EU member states in the event that they accede to the union (BBC NEWS 2014). Furthermore, Turkey is inhabited predominantly by Muslims and thus many leaders and publics of EU member states are worried that Turkey accession to the EU would alter the character, identity and policies of the union (Akcay & Akipek 2013). Another thorny issue that union member’s states are concerned about is the status of the Turkish political reforms, fundamental rights observation, and the degree to which ethnic and religious minorities are protected (Bindi & Angelescu 2012). With regard to this establishment, the desire and support for Turkey’s accession among the union member states is low and more ambivalent. Experts in this area predict that at best, Turkey’s accession to EU will take at least ten or more years to come. More importantly, they note that Turkey’s accession to EU is highly unlikely without the political resolution on the divided island of Cyprus (Engert 2010). Furthermore, Turkish policy makers and citizens are also questioning the need and value for Turkey acceding to the EU; the urge for many Turks to accede to the EU has decreased significantly due to the complicated and slow pace of the process (Akcay & Yilmaz 2012). Given the economic growth that Turkey has gained over the recent past despite the economic slowdown over the past few years, many Turks feel that becoming or gaining membership to the EU is not needed to secure the country’s status and/or otherwise have a normal and working relation ship with Europe. Other commentators argue that the revitalized positive agenda will help both EU and Turkey to understand that there is no need for Turkey to accede fully as a member state to the EU (Akcay & Akipek 2013). However, it will also allow both parties to develop closer and stronger relationships (BBC NEWS 2014). Nevertheless, Turkish officials are prospective of its ultimate membership to the union; they assert the EU membership is the country’s top priority. Following this, many experts have established that neither the EU nor Turkey as at now shows the signs of ending the accession process for Turkey (Engert 2010). Conclusion The European Integration project has received support from within Europe and across the world since its inception. The pursuit for enlarging the EU is anchored by the union’s policy; it is a historic opportunity for integrating the Europe through peaceful means. The enlargement process is a carefully managed process and thus is most powerful policy tool which has significantly helped in both political and economic reforms. The process of enlargement has long been viewed as an open to any European country. Some observers argue that EU enlargement process will probably reach its limits in the near future in terms of both geographic as well as public enthusiasm. The above is an exhaustive discussion about EU enlargement using the case of Turkey. Turkey’s accession process has been underway since 2005, but the country is yet to accede to full membership to the union. The appeal and desire for accession for experts from both existing EU member states and Turkey is increasingly diminishing. However, both EU and Turkey have managed to benefit significantly from this new-found relationship. Annotated Bibliography Archick, K. and Morelli, V. L (2014) European Union Enlargement. Congressional Research Service; Informing the legislative debate since 1914. In this Congressional Research Service Report, Archick and Morelli provides an in-depth review of the European enlargement process. The enlargement process is a carefully managed process and is the EU’s policy that has aided many European countries to become functioning democracies and affluent countries. They identify that although the enlargement door is open to any European country its is entirely determined by the existing members states to the union. Accordingly, Archick and Morelli in this report, observe that EU enlargement is increasingly approaching its limit in terms of both geographic and public enthusiasm terms. The process of enlargement is well provided; the current candidate members to accession including Turkey, Macedonia, Iceland, Montenegro and Serbia together with their accession phases are well provided. BBC NEWS 2014, EU Enlargement: The Next Seven. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-11283616 This article provides extensive and in-depth information regarding the EU accession process. Several European countries including Albania, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Croatia, Iceland, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Turkey and Kosovo together with their accession talks have been provided. This article expansively provides information regarding the time of commencement of accession process regarding specific country together with the level of achievement. Similarly, the conditions and standards that are required to be met by each country in order to accede to the union have also been provided. References Akcay, B & Akipek, S 2013, Turkey's Integration into the European Union: Legal Dimension, London, Lexington Books. Akcay, B & Yilmaz, B 2012, Turkey's Accession to the European Union: Political and Economic Challenges, London, Rowman & Littlefield. Archick, K & Morelli, V.L. 2014, European Union Enlargement. Congressional Research Service; Informing the legislative debate since 1914. BBC NEWS 2014, EU Enlargement: The Next Seven. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-11283616 Bindi, F & Angelescu, I 2012, The Foreign Policy of the European Union: Assessing Europe's Role in the World, 2nd Ed, Liverpool, Brookings Institution Press. Cengiz, F & Hoffmann, L 2013, Turkey and the European Union: Facing New Challenges and Opportunities, London, Routledge Publishers. Engert, S 2010, EU Enlargement and Socialization: Turkey and Cyprus, London, Routledge Publishers. Erzan, R & Kirisci, K 2013, Turkish Immigrants in EU - ERZAN: Determinants of Immigration and Integration, London, Routledge Publishers. Rogers, N, Scannell, R & Walsh, J 2012, Free Movement of Persons in the Enlarged European Union, Jakarta, Sweet & Maxwell. Sajdik, M & Schwarzinger, M 2011, European Union Enlargement: Background, Developments, Facts, New York, Transaction Publishers. Zihnioglu, O 2013, European Union Civil Society Policy and Turkey: A Bridge Too Far? Melbourne, Palgrave Macmillan. Read More

Similarly, the membership applicant must have the ability to take on membership obligations such as adherence to the political, economic and monetary objectives of the union (Rogers, Scannell & Walsh 2012). Additionally, EU must be in position to take in new members and thus it is only EU member states that decide when they are ready to accept a new member. After a state sends an application to be a member of the EU, the application initiates a technically complex process together with a sequence of procedural evaluations (Akcay & Akipek 2013).

Concurrently, the enlargement process of the EU is a more of political process whereby approximately all steps along the accession path demand for unanimous agreement of the existing member states. The negotiations for accession require the candidate state to adopt as well as implement EU treaties, laws and regulations. The rules and regulations of the EU are referred to as acquis communautaire; 144,000 pages which are divided into 35 subject-related chapters. Amongst the current 5 official candidate states to the EU, Turkey’s bid for EU membership is long-standing; however, the relationship between the EU and Turkey historically has been associated with a series of ups and downs (Archick & Morelli 2014).

Despite EU member states supporting close association with Turkey, there exist myriad divisions among member states (Akcay & Akipek 2013). EU member states are mainly concerned about the Turkey’s political system, large Muslim population, human rights record, and economy. In this perspective, Turkey’s membership application status is the primary source of tension between the EU and Turkey (Engert 2010). The country’s aspirations to join EU can be traced back to the 1960s; the Ankara Agreement of 1963 was established with a singular objective of developing closer economic relationships between the EU and Turkey.

The country’s application for full European Community full membership in 1987 was rejected (BBC NEWS 2014). Progress towards accession was revived in 1995, when EU and Turkey custom union were operationalized. Turkey was declared eligible to join the EU in 1997 and in 1999; the country was recognized as EU’s official candidate for membership (Akcay & Akipek 2013). This notwithstanding, EU still asserted that Turkey must comply fully with economic and political criteria for membership prior to accession talks commencement.

The Accession Partnership between EU and Turkey was first adopted in 2001 which compelled Turkey to define its political and economic priorities to address for her to adopt and implement standards and legislation of the EU. However, during the EU summit of December 2002, negotiation for accession was not started due to the fact that some EU member states argued that, Turkey had not exhaustively fulfilled the membership criteria. Similarly, Turkey’s stance against Cyprus was also brought into question (Zihnioglu 2013).

In the same line of discussion, in 2004, EU declared that Turkey’s progress on judicial, legislative and economic reforms were sufficient to allow accession talks; the accession talks were set to begin in October 2005 on two conditions: more reform legislation should be enforced, and agreeing to extend her existing agreement with EU as well as its customs union to new EU member states. The accession talks were eventually opened in October 2005. The negotiations between EU and Turkey on the acquis started in 2006; up to now 14 chapters of the acquis have been opened.

The progress has been slow and complicated due to the delicate relationship between Turkey and Cyprus. In December 2006, opening of further acquis 8 chapters was delayed; these chapters apparently deal with customs union (Engert 2010). For instance, Turkey had refused to open its airports and ports to planes and ships from Greek Cypriot (Akcay & Akipek 2013). The country was also required to comply to Additional Protocol to Cyprus. Due to this, EU decided to close provisionally negotiation on other chapters as well pending Turkey’s compliance to the set standards.

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