This panel session has been hold to discuss the influence of the European Union (EU) accession process on Turkish politics and society. Speakers argued that, during its accession process, the candidate country Turkey is exposed to EU influence which produces changes in its domestic policy-making and implementations. The domestic transformation induced by the EU can be explained by the concept of Europeanization. In this paper the “legal framework model” is presented to explain how Europeanization functions in Turkey to deliver expected results. The “legal framework model” can be explained as the influence of the EU over candidate state through the Europeanization mechanism of legal dialogue and the adoption of the EU acquis. This model aims to fill a gap in literature while bridging the study of Eastern Enlargement with the current enlargement process.
This paper argues that Europeanization mechanism of “legal dialogue” has to be complemented by additional Europeanization mechanisms to encourage not only the adoption of the EU acquis but also the adaptation and implementation of the EU level policies, and set of norms, rules and standards. Compliance by the candidate state is supported by complementary mechanisms of assistance, social networking, mobilizing actors, institution building and training. The findings of this paper demostrate that the impact of Europeanization during Turkey’s accession process is particularly noticeable. This paper also reveals that the influence of Europeanization is not limitless and it can be limited by factors of politics, domestic resistance, credibility, trust, certainty, timing, understanding, identity and culture.
Panel Presentations: "The Influence of Europeanization on Turkey's Accession Process: A Myth or Reality?" by Dr Basak Kale
"Turkey, the European Security and Defence Policy, and Accession Negotiations" by Miguel Medina-Abellan (He couldn't attend the panel due to health problems.)
"The political and economic challenges for Turkey’s EU Accession" by Adam Hug.
Dr Basak Kale is a DPhil. candidate at the Oriental Institute, Oxford University.Her research focuses on the trans formative power of the European Union and Europeanization in candidate countries concentrating on migration policy in particular.She has a Ph.D. in International Relations, Middle EastTechnical University;Masters in European Studies, London School of Economics; BSc. Political Science and Public Administration, Middle East Technical University. Her postgraduate research has been funded by the European Commission, British Chevening Scholarship with Harborne Award, Turkish High Education Council and the UNHCR grant. She has worked as a Consultant for the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population for the Council of Europe and as a Consultant for the Gender and Children Working Team of the UNHCR. Previously, she worked as the national coordinator for the European Convention at the EU Secretary General, Ankara. She also worked as a research assistant at the Centre for European Studies and Department of International Relations, Middle East Technical University, Ankara.
Dr Mehmet Ugur is a reader in European Political Economy at the University of Greenwich. Dr Ugur specialises in regional integration theory, global regional institutions, corporate governance and EU-Turkey relations.
He was awarded the Jean Monnet Chair title in 1997, led a masters programme in European Public Policy until 2002, contributed to a large number of conferences, and currently leads the MA/MSc programme in Business and Financial Economics. His scholarly Interests include regional integration theory, policy making of the European Union, Global-regional governance, corporate governance, EU-Turkey relations, and international migration.
Adam Hug joined the Foreign Policy Centre as Policy Director in June 2008. His research interests include the Middle East, Russia, the Caucasus, Central Asia, the transatlantic relationship, energy security and the EU. Before joining the FPC, Adam was Policy and Campaigns Manager at the Fostering Network.His previous roles include working as a consultant specialising in EU consumer protection, supporting Israeli and Palestinian civil society groups and trade unions and training young Black Sea region political activists. He has an MSc in Development Studies with special reference to Central Asia from SOAS and an MA (Hons) in Geography from the University of Edinburgh. Miguel Medina Abellán is reaching for the PhD in International Relations at the Centre of International Studies (University of Cambridge) since April 2006. He holds a Degree in Political Sciences and Administration from the Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona (Spain) since 1999. He obtained a Master in European Political Studies from the College of Europe, in Bruges (Belgium) in 2002. He has worked in the private sector, as an Academic Assistant at the College of Europe and as a Lecturer in International Relations and European Studies at the Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona and at City University, London. His main areas of research are European Foreign and Security Policy, EU-Turkey relations,Mediterranean issues, energy security and geopolitics.
LCSS Seminar Series 08/09
This seminar is organised by the London Centre for Social Studies (LCSS). It was the sixth of the LCSS 2008/2009 seminar series. LCSS is a registered charity that seeks to undertake, encourage, sponsor and contribute towards academic research, work and publication in the UK, findings of which will be of direct relevance and value to academia, charitable organisations, service-providing institutions and governmental and non-governmental bodies. LCSS seminars provide academics, professionals and students an opportunity to share and thereby test their research, ideas, thoughts and projects with others.
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