TURKEY’S ROAD TO EU MEMBERSHIP: ECONOMIC OUTLOOK

The commencement of the official relations between the European Union and Turkey dates back to 31 July 1959, when Turkey applied for association following the establishment of the European Economic Community. The relations were shaped in accordance with the provisions of Ankara Agreement signed in...

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Main Author: CANAN BALKIR
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Corvinus University of Budapest 2020-08-01
Series:Köz-gazdaság
Online Access:http://www.retp.eu/index.php/retp/article/view/924
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author CANAN BALKIR
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description The commencement of the official relations between the European Union and Turkey dates back to 31 July 1959, when Turkey applied for association following the establishment of the European Economic Community. The relations were shaped in accordance with the provisions of Ankara Agreement signed in 1963. As stated in article 28 of the Ankara Agreement, the road to full membership was open, based on Turkey's capacity to fulfill its obligations. The Customs Union, which was envisaged as the final period of the Association, took effect on 1 January 1996 and was perceived in big business circles as a cureall. On the other hand, small and medium sized companies have been critical of this process. With the Customs Union, Turkey had already become part of the European internal market and was required to adopt large parts of the acquis regardless of the membership process. The 1999 Helsinki Summit marked a turning point in Turkey-EU relations, followed by a positive atmosphere till the accession negotiations started in 2005. As Turkey started negotiations, conditionality rather than incentives were perceived to dominate the negotiation process. The absorption capacity of the Union was also an issue, which basically meant that Turkish accession has the risk of overburdening the EU in budgetary, political and/or institutional terms. Although the progress in accession negotiations constitutes an important anchor for the implementation of political reforms, it was only the economic perspective of Turkish accession which has been looked upon more favourably, while the rest became intertwined with the questions of identity and the future of Europe, a larger question. Turkey's road to EU membership is distinct from the previous enlargements, due to the combined impact of population, size, geographical location, economics and energy security. Given these features, despite the deep impact of the current global crisis on the economies of some member states, Turkey continues to be a functioning market economy in line with the Copenhagen criteria. The paper tries to assess and shed an insight into Turkey's economic convergence and argues that Turkey's EU membership is a challenging but a “win-win” case.
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spelling doaj.art-f7a55ea3e97145e9a1d52c189fe07a9d2023-01-08T15:02:19ZengCorvinus University of BudapestKöz-gazdaság1788-06962020-08-0153TURKEY’S ROAD TO EU MEMBERSHIP: ECONOMIC OUTLOOKCANAN BALKIR The commencement of the official relations between the European Union and Turkey dates back to 31 July 1959, when Turkey applied for association following the establishment of the European Economic Community. The relations were shaped in accordance with the provisions of Ankara Agreement signed in 1963. As stated in article 28 of the Ankara Agreement, the road to full membership was open, based on Turkey's capacity to fulfill its obligations. The Customs Union, which was envisaged as the final period of the Association, took effect on 1 January 1996 and was perceived in big business circles as a cureall. On the other hand, small and medium sized companies have been critical of this process. With the Customs Union, Turkey had already become part of the European internal market and was required to adopt large parts of the acquis regardless of the membership process. The 1999 Helsinki Summit marked a turning point in Turkey-EU relations, followed by a positive atmosphere till the accession negotiations started in 2005. As Turkey started negotiations, conditionality rather than incentives were perceived to dominate the negotiation process. The absorption capacity of the Union was also an issue, which basically meant that Turkish accession has the risk of overburdening the EU in budgetary, political and/or institutional terms. Although the progress in accession negotiations constitutes an important anchor for the implementation of political reforms, it was only the economic perspective of Turkish accession which has been looked upon more favourably, while the rest became intertwined with the questions of identity and the future of Europe, a larger question. Turkey's road to EU membership is distinct from the previous enlargements, due to the combined impact of population, size, geographical location, economics and energy security. Given these features, despite the deep impact of the current global crisis on the economies of some member states, Turkey continues to be a functioning market economy in line with the Copenhagen criteria. The paper tries to assess and shed an insight into Turkey's economic convergence and argues that Turkey's EU membership is a challenging but a “win-win” case. http://www.retp.eu/index.php/retp/article/view/924
spellingShingle CANAN BALKIR
TURKEY’S ROAD TO EU MEMBERSHIP: ECONOMIC OUTLOOK
Köz-gazdaság
title TURKEY’S ROAD TO EU MEMBERSHIP: ECONOMIC OUTLOOK
title_full TURKEY’S ROAD TO EU MEMBERSHIP: ECONOMIC OUTLOOK
title_fullStr TURKEY’S ROAD TO EU MEMBERSHIP: ECONOMIC OUTLOOK
title_full_unstemmed TURKEY’S ROAD TO EU MEMBERSHIP: ECONOMIC OUTLOOK
title_short TURKEY’S ROAD TO EU MEMBERSHIP: ECONOMIC OUTLOOK
title_sort turkey s road to eu membership economic outlook
url http://www.retp.eu/index.php/retp/article/view/924
work_keys_str_mv AT cananbalkir turkeysroadtoeumembershipeconomicoutlook