Mediterranean Programme - [05/14/2008]

Turkey and the European Union: it is the Union that will end up deciding

On 8 May, on the eve of Europe Day, the Istanbul Kültür University held a seminar to analyse how the process of Turkey's candidacy for EU membership is progressing, which actors are in favour of Turkey’s membership, or are obstructing it, and the elements characterising the debates on the issue in different Member States.

Eduard Soler, the Coordinator of the Mediterranean Programme at the CIDOB Foundation, took part in the seminar with an address in which he explained the different factors that condition and determine the stances of Europe's institutions and Member States with respect to Turkey's membership. Soler argued that from 1999 to 2004, the process was stuck in a vicious circle: the EU offered prospects for membership that led the Turkish governments to carry out reforms, and this in turn encouraged the EU to offer increasingly attractive incentives. Nevertheless, since 2005, the situation has changed ─ the EU is no longer offering Turkey such clearly-defined European horizons, nor is the Turkish government introducing reforms at the desired speed.

In view of the situation, Soler claims that any reforms that Turkey carries out will be (as they have been until now) a condition that is necessary but not sufficient. In contrast, the determining elements will be the political changes that take part within the heart of the EU, given that these have involved (and will continue to involve) different views on the advisability of allowing Turkey into the Union or not. In other words, no matter how significant Turkey's political and economic reforms are, the ball is still in the EU's court.

In addition to Soler's address, the seminar also featured addresses by Tamer Koçel, the Dean of Istanbul Kültür University, Bianca Kaiser, a lecturer at the same university, Chris Rumford, from the University of London, Dorothée Schmid, from the IFRI in Paris and Ayhan Kaya, from the University of Bilgi. In view of their comments and the resulting debates, the conclusion was reached that no one single European debate exists on the Turkish issue, and that it is of fundamental importance to analyse how the debates are structured in the states that make up the European Union.

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