EU/Turkey: Will the Brussels door remain closed against Ankara?
As the Twenty-Sevenths meet this weekend in Granada, Spain, on the occasion of the third meeting of the European Political Community and the informal meeting of the EU Council which should, inter alia, lead to discussions on the enlargement of the Union, the Turkish President said earlier this week that he would not tolerate new requirements or conditions in Brussels for his country's accession process.
Moreover, Turkey is currently facing severe economic difficulties with high imported inflation, with a record trade deficit of $109.5 billion in 2022, due to the decline in trade with the EU, its largest trading partner. A complicated economic situation that has lasted for several months (cf.Turkey: Towards an inevitable economic crisis?).
The country has been a candidate for EU membership since 1987, a status officially recognised by Europeans in 1999. The challenges related to Turkey's entry into the EU raise historical, demographic, religious and geopolitical issues that have sparked debates for more than 20 years. This application did not succeed, as Brussels considered that Ankara did not meet certain European requirements, including recently human rights issues. Austria indicated in mid-September that it would veto Turkish accession. As the EU accession procedure requires the unanimity of the Member States, the door may well remain closed...
However, despite their differences and complex relations, Turkey remains an essential international partner of the EU. Until then, the two parties have always managed to conclude agreements, such as the Customs Union, which allows goods (other than agricultural products) to circulate from Turkey or from the European Union, without customs duties or quantitative restrictions, on presentation of an A.TR movement certificate (which deals only with the origin of the products and not with their origin).
As a reminder, the current EU candidate countries are:
- Montenegro
- Serbia
- Turkey
- Northern Macedonia
- Albania
- Ukraine
- Moldova
- Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Austria, Croatia and Slovenia wanted to open negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina this year.
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