European Union Enlargement: A Status Report on Turkey’s Accession Negotiations

Vincent Morelli
Section Research Manager

October 2011 marked the sixth anniversary of the European Union’s decision to proceed with formal negotiations with Turkey toward full membership in the Union. It also marks the beginning of the annual period when all three European Union institutions—the Council, Commission, and Parliament—provide their assessment of the progress Turkey has made or failed to accomplish in the accession process over the previous year and issue recommendations on whether and how Turkey’s accession process should proceed. On October 12, 2011, the EU Commission, the first institution to act, issued its annual assessment to the Council and Parliament. While noting the continued importance of Turkey to the EU, the Commission expressed its disappointment over the lack of any significant progress in the accession talks and pledged to intensify its work with Turkey on its domestic reforms.

Throughout 2011, significant developments have taken place in Turkey, including a national election in June that returned the governing AK Party to power, a shake-up of the Turkish military, and several foreign policy developments involving Syria, Iran, Cyprus, and Israel. With respect to accession, no additional chapters of the EU’s rules and regulations known as the acquis communautaire were opened in 2011, leaving some to conclude that Turkey’s accession negotiations with the EU had reached a complete political and technical stalemate.

The principal issues regarding Turkey’s accession continue to be what the EU believes has been too slow of a pace for implementing critical reforms within Turkey and possibly even a few steps backward in the area of press freedoms; Turkey’s continued refusal to extend diplomatic recognition to Cyprus or to live up to its agreement to extend the benefits of its customs union with the EU to Cyprus, including the continued reluctance by Turkey to open its sea and air ports to Cypriot shipping and commerce until a political settlement has been achieved on Cyprus; continued skepticism on the part of many Europeans whether Turkey should be embraced as a member of the European family fueled recently by a UK parliamentary committee report addressing the risks it saw in Turkey becoming a member of the Union; the implications of the growing Muslim population in Europe and the impact Turkey’s admission into the Union would have on Europe’s future; and a perceived ambivalence toward the EU by a growing number of Turks whose questioning of Turkey’s need to join the EU has begun to be heard on a more public and regular basis while discussions of the EU seem to have become less regular in the internal Turkish debate over its future. The accession talks could take a further step back if Prime Minister Erdogan follows through on his threat to freeze all relations with the EU if Cyprus assumes the rotating presidency of the EU Council on July 1, 2012, as it is preparing to do.

This report provides a brief overview of the EU’s accession process and Turkey’s path to EU membership. The U.S. Congress has had a long-standing interest in Turkey as a NATO ally; a regional energy transit hub; and a partner in issues involving the Black Sea, the broader Middle East, and the Caucasus. Although some Members have expressed support for Turkey’s membership in the EU, the level of congressional support seems to have diminished as congressional concerns with several of Turkey’s recent foreign policy developments have surfaced. The 112th Congress may review Turkey’s relations with the United States, the impact of the EU accession process on internal political and economic reforms in Turkey, and Turkey’s apparent intent to become a more independent regional foreign policy influence.


Date of Report: October 19, 2011
Number of Pages: 21
Order Number: RS22517
Price: $29.95

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