Abstract
The European Union granted Turkey the rank of potential member almost fifteen years ago. However, because of Turkey’s current situation, it is difficult to imagine it as a stable member that fulfills the rules of accession. Turkey’s contemporary history is one of deep engagement with Europe and the West. The country’s Western orientation has long been a guiding principle in Ankara’s international posture. Turkey has come a long way from being an essential pillar of NATO during the Cold War, a reliable member of the Council of Europe, and a promising EU candidate country to adopting the posture of a disruptive partner for the West. Recently, disputes with European countries have intensified, while Turkey’s rule-of-law architecture has been steadily dismantled and its economy is suffering from incongruous policies and years of cronyism. The year 2021 marked a watershed for Turkey’s relations with its traditional Western partners. The country’s foreign policy became heavily militarized in an attempt to affirm Ankara’s power in countries near abroad and fuel a fiercely nationalist narrative. Turkey’s deliberate disruption has major consequences for its relationships with its Western allies and NATO. More recently, relations have taken on a much more challenging dimension. This chapter sheds light on the characteristics, evolution, and future of the European Union–Turkish difficult relations and its influence on Turkey–French correlations.
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Notes
- 1.
The term “European Union” refers also to the political system of the “European Communities” before the year 1993, when the European Union was established under its current name.
- 2.
Article 29 (ex-Article 15 TEU): The Council shall adopt decisions which shall define the approach of the Union to a particular matter of a geographical or thematic nature. Member States shall ensure that their national policies conform to the Union positions.
Article 215 (ex-Article 301 TEC) 1: Where a decision, adopted in accordance with Chap. 2 of Title V of the Treaty on European Union, provides for the interruption or reduction, in part or completely, of economic and financial relations with one or more third countries, the Council, acting by a qualified majority on a joint proposal from the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and the Commission, shall adopt the necessary measures. It shall inform the European Parliament thereof. 2. Where a decision adopted in accordance with Chap. 2 of Title V of the Treaty on European Union so provides, the Council may adopt restrictive measures under the procedure referred to in paragraph 1 against natural or legal persons and groups or non-State entities. 3. The acts referred to in this Article shall include necessary provisions on legal safeguards. Official Journal of the European Union (2012), “Consolidated version of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union”—Part Five: External Action by the Union—Title IV: Restrictive Measures—Article 215 (ex-Article 301 TEC) C362/49, 26.10.2012. Date of Accession July 02, 2021, from https://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:12008E215:EN:HTML.
- 3.
Turkey has 22 Free Trade Agreements in force with: EFTA countries, Israel, North Macedonia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Palestine, Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt, Syria (suspended), Albania, Georgia, Montenegro, Serbia, Chile, Mauritius, South Korea, Malaysia, Moldova, Faroe Islands, Singapore, Kosovo, Venezuela, and the United Kingdom.
- 4.
In the first months after it was signed, migration on the East Mediterranean route decreased by over 90%. Currently, the number of migrants coming from Turkey to Greece is still significantly lower than before the agreement’s entry into force. However, in an EC communication from May, it appears that since March the number of migrants has increased. More than 9,000 have arrived by sea since the beginning of the year. By land to Greece, there have been about 6,000. This is a nine-fold increase compared to the same period in 2017. In 2016-2017, €3 billion was allocated to support Syrians in Turkey, and in 2018, the launch of the next tranche of assistance began. See; Jolanta Szymańska & Karol Wasilewski(2018),“The Challenges of the EU-Turkey Migration Deal”, Bulletin PISM, No: 93 (1666), 19.07.2018.
- 5.
The EMGF, a multilateral energy diplomacy forum, was established to promote regional energy cooperation after the discovery of eight offshore natural gas fields in the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) of Cyprus, Egypt, and Israel — as well as off the coast of the Gaza Strip. The EMGF, created in 2019 and chartered in March 2021 as a “full-fledged intergovernmental organization based in Cairo”. The founding members of the EMGF are Cyprus, Egypt, Israel, Greece, Palestine, Italy, and Jordan. Membership in this energy diplomacy club has been coveted beyond the Eastern Mediterranean littoral states. “Declaration of the Fourth Ministerial Meeting of the East Mediterranean Gas Forum (Emgf) Cairo”, Egypt, 09.03.2021, Date of Accession: 02.07.2021 from https://www.pio.gov.cy/assets/pdf/newsroom/2021/03/EMGF%204th%20MM%20Declaration.pdf.
- 6.
France has strongly backed Greece and Cyprus in a growing standoff with Turkey over hydrocarbon resources and naval influence in the eastern Mediterranean, which has sparked fears of more severe conflict.
- 7.
The 2010 Q: Are you in favor or not of Turkey be-coming part of the European Union in the future?, Eurobarometer 2010: “For each of the following countries, are you in favor or not of it becoming part of the European Union in the future? Turkey”, Public Opinion Poll (02/1996–11/2010), Eurobarometer, European Commission, 2010, Date of Accession: 02.07.2021 from http://ec.europa.eu/commfrontoffice/publicopinion/in-dex.cfm/Chart/getChart/chartType/lineChart/themeKy/14/groupKy/71/savFile/703; Jakob Lindgaard (2010), “EU Public Opinion on Turkish EU Membership: Trends and Drivers”, FEUTURE Online Paper, no. 25, p. 7.
- 8.
Recent YouGov Eurotrack survey data reveals how the borders of the European Union might shift if it were up to the public in key European nations. They asked the public in six EU Member States (Britain, France, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland) whether it was right or wrong to have allowed each of the current members of the EU to have joined, as well as whether countries that are not currently members should be given permission to join if they wanted to do so. Matthew Smith (2019), “Eurotrack: which countries do Europeans think should be in the EU?”, YouGov, March 05, 2019, Date of Accession: 02.07.2021 from https://yougov.co.uk/topics/international/articles-reports/2019/03/05/eurotrack-it-was-mistake-admit-romania-and-bulgari.
- 9.
Macron said at a press conference in Ajaccio, Corsica, ahead of a summit of Southern European countries, Rym Momnaz (2020), “Macron criticizes Turkey but raises prospect of dialogue”, Politico, September 10, 2020, Date of Accession: 02.07.2021 from https://www.politico.eu/article/emmanuel-macron-calls-out-turkey-while-extending-dialogue-branch/.
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Piskorska, B. (2022). Turkey’s EU Membership Process and Its Effects on Franco-Turkish Relations. In: Denizeau, A., Örmeci, O. (eds) Turkish-French Relations. Contributions to International Relations. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-07988-7_11
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