While making the assessment, the european council analyzes a countrys political scene through the presence of a functioning democracy, the protection of human rights, the rule of law and the protection of and respect. It shows how turkey and russia have worked as obstructing third party states in these cases, while greece and romania have worked as facilitating eu member states. Turkish accession prospects to the eu in the current scenario. European commissions recommendation in october on whether. The next few months are the last opportunity for turkey to take steps that could influence the. The copenhagen political criteria for joining the eu. While the enlargement with the central and east european countries of the former soviet union was a logical process, given. The introduction of the copenhagen criteria in 1993 set the political conditions that all states interested in joining the european union should fulfil and provided turkey with a reform guideline. Debating the most difficult enlargement ever ioannis n. The december 2004 european council decided on the opening of negotiations, under specific conditions and prerequisites, given that turkey adequately, though not fully, satisfied. The changing role of the eu factor in greekturkish relations. Turkey has also applied to join the eu but accession negotiations had not begun as of.
Some expected and some notsoexpected benefits of turkey. In connection with turkeys candidacy for eu membership, the european council of helsinki decided, in december 1999, that the criteria for accession, especially. The applicant country has to be a member of the european. Copenhagen criteria by evaluating the efficiency of turkeys efforts to. Accession of turkey to the european union wikipedia. Grigoriadis this study focuses on the intricacies of turkeys prospective membership in the european union. The key criteria for accession are known as the 15copenhagen criteria which candidate countries are necessitated to possess prior to accession. The enlargement process that the european union faced the last decade stirred the debate again about the role turkey has to play and whether or not turkey should be part of the european union. Although it was not laid down as an explicit condition by the eu leaders at their december 2002 meeting, it was made clear to turkey through both informal channels.
The copenhagen criteria are the membership criteria that must be satisfied by a country that wants to become a member of the european union prior to accession. Turkeys eu membership debate and the copenhagen summit. Inside turkey, power is concentrated in the turkish presidency. Sep 18, 2017 the next criterion used to assess the eligibility of a country seeking to join the european union is the political criteria. The copenhagen criteria, established by the european council in 1993 in copenhagen, are essential in. Without eu membership aspirations, it is questionable whether turkish. The european commission has been publishing annual reports evaluating the progress achieved by the candidate countries with respect to the copenhagen criteria since 1998. Copenhagen criteria, the eu has also set other membership conditions in.
Croatias accession, which followed that of romania and bulgaria on 1 january 2007, marked the sixth enlargement. Some expected and some notsoexpected benefits of turkeys. In the article turkeys quest for membership of the european union. At the moment, the turkish government shows no apparent desire to return to a governance system centred on the rule of law and displays little regard for the copenhagen criteria. The copenhagen criteria are the rules that define whether a country is eligible to join the european union. Renate sommer, the permanent epp group spokeswoman on turkey. The copenhagen criteria have crystallised and developed further the existing corpus of conditions a third state has to fulfill to accede to the european union. In february 2003, croatia lodged an official application for becoming a member of the european union. A accession criteria copenhagen criteria in june 1993, the copenhagen european council recognised the right of the countries of central and eastern europe to join the european union when they have fulfilled three criteria. Luxembourg, in helsinki turkey was offered an accessionpartnership. Eu enlargement and membership through the turkey experience. The articulation of the copenhagen criteria and turkeys evident failure to meet them due to its bleak human and minority rights record and militaryinfluenced democracy added one more argument to greeces opposition to improved turkeyeu relations. Societal perceptions of turkeys eu membership section 2. Turkey has taken important steps towards meeting the copenhagen political criteria and moved forward on the economic criteria and alignment with the acquis, as registered in the commissions regular report.
The copenhagen criteria and their progeny by christophe. The country was also an associate member of the western european union. The treaty on the european union states that any european country that demonstrates respect and commitment towards the promotion of the democratic values of the eu may apply for membership. The criteria require that a state has the institutions to preserve democratic governance and human rights, has a functioning market economy, and accepts the obligations and intent of the eu these membership criteria were laid down at the june 1993 european council in copenhagen, denmark. Four european political leaders say turkey no longer.
Nine states are currently within the eus enlargement framework and each present a. Jul 24, 2017 turkeys efforts to negotiate for full membership in the european union have now dragged on for more than a decade. According to it, the eu would open negotiations with turkey without delay if the european council in december 2004, on the basis of a report and a recommendation from the commission, decides that turkey fulfills the copenhagen political criteria. These reports were called progress report until 2016, and have been called country report afterwards. The main argument used by the forces favourable to turkeys accession is that the armenian genocide is not among the copenhagen criteria the eus political accession criteria and that the rules of the game cannot be modified once it has begun.
The enlargement process that the european union faced the last decade stirred the debate. Admittedly, turkey still faces a wide range of problems ranging from corruption and organized crime, to economic uncertainty, and a rough neighbourhood1. The copenhagen criteria are the conditions candidate countries must meet before they. As regards preaccession financial assistance, turkey will receive about 4 454 million or over 50 % of the total national allocations during 2014. Turkeys efforts to negotiate for full membership in the european union have now dragged on for more than a decade. The conditions that a country must meet to become a member of the eu, such as having stable institutions that guarantee democracy and human rights, having a.
The commission could write that turkey continued to sufficiently meet the copenhagen political criteria. Accession criteria copenhagen criteria the treaty on european union sets out the conditions article 49 and principles article 61 to which any country wishing to become an eu member must conform. Turkey is negotiating its accession to the european union eu as a member state, following its application to accede to the european economic community, the predecessor of the eu, on 14 april 1987. The eus enlargement policy aims to unite european countries in a common political. The effects of a suspension of turkeys eu accession. If the european council in december 2004, on the basis of a report and a recommendation from the commission, decides that turkey fulfils the copenhagen political criteria, the european union will open accession negotiations with turkey without delay. Economically it is already closely linked to the eu. The key criteria for accession are known as the 15 copenhagen criteria which candidate countries are necessitated to possess prior to accession.
The eu also manifested a clear attitude to treat turkey according to the same copenhagen criteria as the other candidate countries. Guy verhofstadt, the chairman of the alde group in the european parliament. Turkey has a long history of human rights abuses against its kurdish population a population that stretches into millions. Initially established in relation to central and eastern european countries, those criteria have become standard accession criteria. Turkey reports prepared by the european commission. Relations between the eu and turkey the brussels european council in october 2002 concluded that. Turkey no longer fulfils the copenhagen criteria, the key that opens the door to eu accession, wrote manfred weber, the chairman of the epp group in the european parliament. No negotiating country could overtly disregard the copenhagen criteria the set of guiding political and economic principles of the eu but ankara has been doing it for the past two years. These resolutions regarding turkey were drastically different from luxembourg. Eu, turkey, european identity, kant, enlargement, the other. On 1 july 20, croatia became the 28th member state of the european union.
Foreign policy issues related to regional areas of common interest to the eu and turkey, such as iraq, iran, the middle east and the. The criteria require that a state has the institutions to preserve democratic governance and human rights, has a functioning market economy, and accepts the obligations and intent of the eu. And the eu shows no indication of either reviving the accession process or. Does turkey continue to meet the political criteria for eu. The union encourages turkey to pursue energetically its reform process. Oct 12, 2010 the conditions that a country must meet to become a member of the eu, such as having stable institutions that guarantee democracy and human rights, having a. The eu enlargement process and the external dimension of the. Mar 06, 2014 the copenhagen criteria have crystallised and developed further the existing corpus of conditions a third state has to fulfill to accede to the european union. These criteria include the maintaining of good neighbourly relations, support for the efforts to resolve the cyprus issue, normalization of relations with the republic of cyprus, and the full and indiscriminate implementation of the additional protocol to the 1963 ankara agreement protocol extending the eu turkey customs union to the 10 new eu. A macroeconomic evaluation within the framework of copenhagen criteria. The copenhagen criteria have played a pivotal role in how this policy has been designed.
Four european political leaders say turkey no longer fulfils. Eu value, the copenhagen criteria including respect for and protection of minorities should be fully integrated into existing eu standards,10 and stronger 7 see eu accession monitoring program, monitoring the eu accession process. This position was echoed in november 2016 in the informal meeting of the foreign affairs council. Turkey an associate member since 1963, in 1995 turkey signed the customs union with the eu, and in 1999 the helsinki european council awarded turkey candidate country status. It begins with a chronology of euturkey relations and an account of the debate on the future of the european union, which relates to turkeys prospective e. Negotiations are being conducted with montenegro, serbia and turkey. Institutional inertia, unmet expectations and accumulated frustrations all play their part. Turkey is the biggest and most important candidate country, with about 76 million inhabitants and a territory of 784 000 km2. Minority protection, open society institute, budapest, september 2001, available at. The copenhagen criteria and the challenge of democratization in. This human rights record is one of the main stumbling blocks in turkeys efforts to join the eu. Instead of bringing turkey and the eu closer together, today the two are more. Is turkey on the way to meet the economic copenhagen criteria. European commission enlargement accession criteria.
And in turkey the european union remains a key anchor for democratic modernisation. They require stability of institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for and the protection of minorities. May 02, 2017 turkey no longer fulfils the copenhagen criteria, the key that opens the door to eu accession, wrote manfred weber, the chairman of the epp group in the european parliament. At the moment croatia, turkey, iceland and the former yugoslav. In may 2003 the eu declared other balkan countries serbia and. The introduction of the copenhagen criteria in 1993 set the political. Sep 01, 2004 the first is a regular report on turkeys progress toward accession, an annual assessment of turkeys efforts to meet the eus copenhagen criteria for membershipincluding. Ten years later, at the thessaloniki summit in 2003, the eu granted all countries of the western balkans a clear perspective of eu membership, subject to fulfilment of the necessary conditions, in particular the copenhagen criteria and the conditions of the stabilisation and association process sap. Accession criteria european neighbourhood policy and. The enlargement process that the european union faced the last decade stirred the debate again about the role turkey has to play and whether or not turkey should be part of the. Pdf the copenhagen political criteria for joining the eu.
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