Dealing with Turkey

The report examines the European Council decisions of 16-17 December 2004, the background to Turkeys accession negotiations, the power-play between the Dutch Presidency the Council, and the Commission and the inter-change with member states such as France, Austria and Cyprus who had strong reservations to opening negotiations on full Turkish membership.

Turkey was not a 'normal' candidate, the Commission noted. Its population was larger that that of any candidate hitherto. Is territories were huge. Its geographical location and military potential raised important questions about the EU's future external relations. It was socially and economically distinctive in many important respects and the budgetary impact of accession would be considerable.

Turkey could not be expected, however, to enter into negotiations that were fundamentally different in character from those that had gone before or which would follow after.

The Commission recommended the commencement of negotiations, albeit without the ringing endorsement of Turkey that many observers had expected and that the Turks themselves and their supporters had hoped for. The two parties were destined, it seemed, to walk a long road together with no guarantee that they would eventually arrive at the original destination and little more than a pious hope that despite their differences, they would still remain friends.

• Publisher: EuroComment Diffusion
• Author: Peter Ludlow
• Language: English
• Type: Paperback

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