Turkey’s European Future: Behind the Scenes of America’s Influence on EU-Turkey Relations

3 Behind the Scenes of the EU: European Debates and Stakeholders

48 | 3 Behind the Scenes of the EU European Debates and Stakeholders An insightful key to understanding Turkey’s long march to Europe as well as the scope of American influence on EU-Turkey relations is to explore European debates on Turkey. European debates are not simply ‘for’ or ‘against’ Turkey. It is true that a majority of public opinion across the EU opposes Turkey’s accession nowadays. But most importantly for our purposes , the causes of support and opposition to Turkey’s EU aspirations vary widely and shift over time. These underlying causes relate to a set of debates articulated by stakeholders within and across EU member states. The significance of European debates on Turkey as a key to understanding the pace and shape of Turkey’s accession process is captured by a cursory comparison between the accession timelines of Turkey and other candidate countries. Table 3.1 lists the most salient steps in the EU accession process, discussed in box 3.1, and the dates at which five candidate countries proceeded along them. Three former candidates have been selected, including Spain (in the context of the southern enlargement of the 1980s), Austria (in the context of the northern enlargement of the 1990s), and Poland (in the context of the eastern enlargement of the 2000s). In addition, the table includes Croatia, which is currently in the accession process alongside the other Western Balkan countries and Turkey. To date, an accession process has never lasted more than a decade. Spain’s accession process was protracted, particularly considering that at the time the European Community was far less developed in terms of its laws, rules, and procedures than it is today. Poland’s accession, alongside that of the other Central and Eastern member states, also lasted almost a decade. In the case of Poland and of Croatia, as in the case of Turkey, the accession is complicated also by the fact that the EU itself is far more developed than in previous decades. Yet a quick glance at the table reveals that Turkey stands in a league of its own. Having applied for EC membership in 1987, Turkey has been in the accession process for well over two decades. Unlike European Debates and Stakeholders | 49 Table 3.1. Stages in the EU Accession Process: Turkey in Comparative Perspective Spain Austria Poland Turkey Croatia Application submitted 1977 1989 1997 1987 2003 Commission Opinion 1978 1989 1997 1989 2004 Candidate Status 1978 1989 1997 1999 2004 Accession talks start 1978 1993 1998 2005 2005 Accession talks end 1985 1994 2003 Accession 1986 1995 2004 Croatia, which is expected to enter the EU possibly in 2013, Turkey’s EU membership is nowhere in sight. Turkey’s own particularities, including its size, level of development, and nature of its political system, partly explain why its accession process is ‘objectively’ complex. Yet alone, these ‘objective’ complications cannot explain the tortuous and protracted nature of Turkey’s accession process. To cite one example, the problems surrounding Turkey’s Kurdish question are considerable. In some respects—e.g., political violence—they are graver than the minority problems in other former candidates, such as the Roma in Eastern Europe or the Russian minorities in the Baltics. Yet in other respects—e.g., citizenship and constitutional status—the Kurdish issue is arguably more manageable than minority problems in other countries in the EU or the accession process, including Cyprus, Bosnia, and Northern Ireland. Hence, to these ‘objective’ difficulties, we must add ‘subjective’ considerations, without which we cannot make sense of Turkey’s long march to Europe. As argued in this chapter, these ‘subjective’ considerations relate to the multifaceted nature of the European debate/s on Turkey; debate/s which drive at the heart of the European integration project. European debates have in fact moulded public opinion in Europe and have influenced the pace and shape of EU-Turkey relations. They underpinned the Commission’s 1989 rejection of Turkey’s application for membership in 1987, which accepted Turkey’s eligibility but argued that the country’s economic and political system was too different from that in EC member states (Commission 1989). These debates permeated discussions when Turkey was included in the EUcustomsunionin1996,andwhentheDecember1997LuxembourgEuropean CouncilrefusedtoaccordTurkeycandidacystatus.Theywerepivotalingranting Turkey candidacy at the December 1999 Helsinki European Council, when the imperative to rebuild broken ties with strategic ally Turkey loomed in the minds 50 | European Debates and Stakeholders of decision makers; and again...