The policy note titled “Assessing the Potential of EU Agencies for the Future of EU-Turkey Relations, Part I: Turkey’s Full Membership without Voting Rights in the EEA and EMCDDA” by 2020/21 Mercator-IPC Researcher Michael Kaeding and former IPC Trainee Frederic Krull was published in September 2021.
Executive Summary
Currently, Turkey plays a particularly privileged role in two EU agencies: the European Environment Agency (EEA) and the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA). To assess the dynamics and potential of EU agencies to strengthen Turkey-EU relations, we focus on this relationship and Turkey’s existing involvement in the EEA and EMCDDA over the last twenty years. We show that despite similarities, Turkey’s involvement in EU agencies varies between these two agencies in various dimensions. To conclude, we recommend strengthening the idea of transgovernmental outreach and consider that EU agencies, which are driven by policy sector-specific interdependencies, are a valuable asset for both Turkey and the EU as the road to EU membership remains uncertain.
Introduction
In the future, EU-Turkey relations have to find answers to two fundamental questions: what do we want to do together in the future, and how do we want to do it. This policy brief is one of three contributions arguing that Turkey’s participation in decentralized EU agencies may offer an interesting path toward enhanced cooperation via transgovernmental networks as the road to EU membership remains uncertain amid prolonged enlargement fatigue across the EU. In fact, EU agencies may potentially offer “more leeway to craft flexible integration arrangements” in view of preparing a new, modernized Customs Union. In the end, EU agencies’ engagements with Turkey could represent one of the many pieces of the puzzle needed for Turkey and its future relationship with Europe
Publication Date
September 2021
Number of Pages
12
