The socio-economic challenge of Turkey's EU accession

Abstract

The accession of Turkey to the European Union presents unprecedented challenges. Perceived obstacles of its admission are commonly identified to be of political, economic and legal nature. The contemporary stance of the EU towards mirrors an ambiguous attitude and its relationship is coined by a "push-and-pull" dynamic. In other words, phases of rapprochement alternate with periods of alienation. This dynamic evokes the question whether obstacles beyond the fulfillment of the Copenhagen Criteria impede Turkey's accession. Popular discourse among European elites and public alike increasingly invoke a third dimension- one that accentuates "cultural" differences in Turkey-EU relations. Turkey's identity is framed as being too disparate as to be integrated into the Union. This dissertation challenges this perception by rendering this argument as invalid. A historic analysis of EU enlargement evolution shows that the EU has moved past being a mere economic and political international organization. In this process, it has added a "normative" character to its agenda, which was especially evident during the accessions of Greece, Spain, Portugal and the Central and Eastern European countries. This dissertation shows that rationales of utility-maximization representing the Union as a purely rational actor did not hold during these rounds of expansion. Furthermore, its identity constantly evolved being confronted with the absorption of different languages, ethnicities and different levels of economic and democratic development. While opponents of Turkish accession in the socio-culture sphere base their claim of incompatibility on a common "European cultural heritage" with roots in Christianity, Enlightenment and a Greco-Roman past, this view contradicts its expansive enlargement policies in the past. A methodological framework of constructivism allows for specific emphasis on the interaction of European and Turkish identity and serves as a meta-theoretical leitmotiv to conciliate these two seemingly disharmonic actors.