Turkey and European Union

History of Modern Turkey II

Işık University
Spring 2020
 History of EU
• Treaty of Paris, 1951
– European Coal and Steel Cooperation
• Treaty of Rome, 1957
– European Economic Community
– European Atomic Energy Committee
• Merger Treaty, 1965
– European Community
• Maastricht Treaty, 1993
– European Union
• Treaty of Lisbon, 2007
– Treaty on the functioning of European Union
 EU Enlargement Policy
Waves of Enlargement

• Belgium, Federal Germany, Luxembourg, France, Italy and Holland (1951)

• United Kingdom, Denmark and Ireland (1973)
• Greece (1981), Spain (1986) and Portugal (1986)
• Austria, Finland and Sweden (1995)
• Czech Republic, Estonia, Southern Cyprus, Letonia, Lithuania, Hungary,
Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia (2004)
• Bulgaria and Romania (2007)
• Crotia (2013)

Candidate Countries: Albania, Turkey, Monte Negro, Serbia

 History of Turkey-EU Relations
• Turkey submit his application to join the EEC, 1959
• Ankara Treaty, 1963
• Full Membership Application, 1987
• Customs Union, 1995
– Obligations related to Free Movement of Goods
– Obligations related to Legislation Alignment
• Luxembourg Submit, 1997
• Regular reports on Turkey since 1998
• Helsinki Submit, 1999
• Nice Submit, 2000
• Strart of Accession Negotiations, 2005
 Turkey-EU Relations
• Security

– Turkey as a buffer zone in the Cold War

– New security threats in the post-Cold War
– 9/11 and ‘clash of civilizations’ thesis
– Turkey’s borders and the problems in the Middle East

• EU institutional structure and EU member state preferences

– Turkey-Greece relations
– Cyprus problem
– Turkey’s population and EU voting system and representation
 Turkey-EU Relations
• The perception of Turkey in the EU public opinion

–The lowest support among all the candidates

•Migration, xenophobia, cost of enlargement

• Identity-based differences

–Cultural differences

•Europeanness?

–Shared intellectual heritage, religion and ethnicity

–Liberal democratic principles

• Copenhagen Criteria and political problems

–Rule of law
–Democratic principles
–Human rights and minority rights
 Turkey-EU Relations
• National sovereignty

• Post-colonial anxities and «Sevres Syndrome»

– Collective memory and the relations with the European countries in the past
– Borders and minorities
– Negative attitudes towards individual and minority rights in the public opinion

• Moral and societal values

• Double standard and negative discrimination

• Perception of EU as a ‘Christian Club’ in the nationalist-conservative circles (Nationalist Action

Party, Prosperity Party…)

• Perception of EU as an imperialist-capitalist union AB (both in the radical left and right)

 Rising Populism in Europe

Reasons

Economic crisis: Decline in growth since 1970s

• Demographic Factors: Decline in birthrate and its impact on growth

• Globalization: Increase in semi-skilled and nonskilled unemployment

• Technology: Information and technology revolution and its impact on

unemployment

• Budget: Increase in fiscal deficit

 Right-Wing Populism and its Impact on EU
Public Opinion
• Against multiculturalism

– Negative feelings towards ethno-cultural differences

– Islamophobia: Negative attitudes towards religious difference and
Muslims

• Populism and migration relation

– Cheap labor and unemployment

– Integration problem among the migrants
– Demographic factors
 Future of Turkey-EU Relations

• Full membership
• Differentiated Integration