The European Union and Turkey: An Anchor/Credibility Dilemma

Using a novel approach to convergence, integration and enlargement, this book sheds new light on the troubled relations between the EU and Turkey. It argues that the problematic evolution of EU-Turkey relations is due to an "anchor/credibility dilema" which can be described as the EU's failure to underwrite part of the risks associated with Turkey's convergence towards European standards and Turkey's failure to undertake a credible commitment on policy reform. As a result, Turkey is now economically the most integrated yet politically the most detached associated country. The way out of this impasse is to recognize the fact that convergence/integration is a special type of policy co-ordination and revise the existing contractual arrangements accordingly - so that the transparency of the parties' objectives is increased and the scope for discretionary deviations from declared commitments is reduced.