A comparison of the European Union's accession negotiations with Bulgaria and Turkey: the role of bilateral issues

Müftüler-Baç, Meltem and Çiçek, Aylin Ece (2017) A comparison of the European Union's accession negotiations with Bulgaria and Turkey: the role of bilateral issues. Journal of Contemporary European Studies, 25 (2). pp. 180-196. ISSN 1478-2804 (Print) 1478-2790 (Online)

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Abstract

This paper compares the EU’s accession negotiations with Bulgaria and Turkey to assess the conditions under which their negotiations unfolded and the role of bilateral issues in that aspect. To do so, the paper highlights the role of the member state vetoes and bilateral relations in the EU negotiations. It needs to be noted that even though the European Commission condemns the impact of bilateral problems on the accession process, unresolved bilateral issues, nonetheless, emerge as major factors complicating the EU’s enlargement process, its effectiveness as well as the pace and nature of the negotiations with multiple applicants and candidates. We look at role of individual member states as veto players on the EU accession negotiations, specifically becoming the most important factor in the Turkish case. We limit our focus to the lack of consensus and commitment among the EU member states towards Turkey as a complicating factor in the EU negotiations. We are able to ascertain that a key difference between Bulgaria and Turkey with regards to their EU accession was the member state vetoes for Turkey’s negotiations.
Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: Enlargement, negotiations, The European Union, Turkey, Bulgaria
Subjects: J Political Science > JZ International relations
Divisions: Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences > Academic programs > International Studies
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences > Academic programs > European Studies
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Depositing User: Meltem Müftüler-Baç
Date Deposited: 13 Jul 2017 15:24
Last Modified: 22 May 2019 13:53
URI: https://research.sabanciuniv.edu/id/eprint/32679

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