Turkey as a candidate to join the EU

Résumé du document

Since 1999, Turkey is officially candidate to enter the European Union. 13 years later, it has still not joined the EU, while other countries like Croatia, Romania or Bulgaria applied at the same time or later and joined before Turkey.

In 13 years, there have been a lot of events that occurred in the process of accession to the EU. But there are still many problems that prevent the EU to go further and to welcome Turkey as a member state of the Union.

What are the main criteria that determine the accession of a country to the EU? Who makes the decisions? What is the exact process? These are the questions that need to be asked in order to understand the situation of Turkey as a candidate to enter the EU.

Extraits

[...] In 1999, Turkey is officially recognized as a candidate to join the EU, which admits its European vocation. In 2001, the country modifies its Constitution in order to fulfill European political criteria. In 2004, death penalty is abolished. One year later, the new Turkish lira is introduced. In 2005, the EU starts negotiations on Turkish adhesion and in 2009, the country becomes a nonpermanent member of the Security Council of the United Nations for two years Political Actors The application of Turkey to join the EU is on its way but the different political actors which are the 27 EU member states and the Turkish government are not agreeing on every point, that's why the negotiations are stuck. [...]

[...] French and Austrian heads of state said they would submit the membership of Turkey to a referendum in their country EU member states out of 27 are in favour of the accession of Turkey to the EU. Austria, Germany, Cyprus, France and Poland, given their political orientation, don't agree on it. In Austria, in 2005, the party in power (Austrian People's Party) and the far-right party were hesitating about opening the negotiations or not. In of Austrians were against the accession of Turkey to the EU. [...]

[...] Turkey was supplying Israel with water and there was a military co-operation between them. However, Turkey does not recognize the Republic of Cyprus and even occupies part of the country. From an economic point of view, Turkey has strong arguments for her. In 2011, the country had a GDP of $773 billion, which is the 18th GDP in the world. For comparison, France had a GDP of $2808 billion (5th GDP worldwide). The economy of Turkey is mainly based on tourism, agriculture, industry, construction and car manufacturing. [...]

[...] But the country maintains its relations with Middle East, Asia, and countries with a Muslim majority. Therefore, Turkey is the link between East and West by its relationships with both sides and its geo-strategic position. Indeed, East and West are arguing about water and oil market and Turkey is the perfect mediator between them. It is also a crossroads for economic, cultural and religious exchanges. Turkey has overall good international relations. The country hosts several US military bases and recognizes the state of Israel since 1949. [...]

[...] Then, the 27 EU member states will have to agree unanimously on the Turkish membership. But the situation is stuck and a bit complicated. Only one out of the 35 chapters has been discussed and closed : the chapter on science and research of them are still being negotiated (chapters on financial control, environment, free movement of capital) have been frozen (chapters on agriculture, energy, judicial system, foreign policy and customs union) and 7 still don't have been opened. The European Commission regularly publishes a report about efforts that still need to be made by candidates. [...]