Europe Needs Turkish Labor Force Already

While visiting Istanbul for the European Parliament (EP) Greens Group’s meeting, Rehn told Zaman that he rejected the claims that Turkey has been assigned a second-class membership. Although this is his first visit to Istanbul, Rehn said that although it is a cliché, Istanbul really is a ‘bridge’ connecting the East and the West. He went on to say that he had met with Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul for the first time and added: "It was a very productive meeting. I look forward to working with Gul on a productive partnership." Regarding the assumption in Turkey that there will be restrictions placed on the Turkish labor force, Rehn said restrictions would be the last option they would consider. When asked whether or not he agrees with Greens Co-President Daniel Cohn Bendit’s that "15-20 years from now, Europe will be begging for the Turkish labor force," Rehn said Europe needs the Turkish labor force already.

Quoting a German businessman working in Turkey, Rehn said: "This, although partly, is already happening even today. Yesterday, I talked to the chairman of a big German company. He said that one of his friends, a German businessman, had asked him for Turkish workers, but he could not find enough. He said that since economic conditions in Turkey are becoming rather positive, there is not much interest in Germany among Turkish workers." The EU Commission, however, had announced that there could be some restrictions placed on the free movement of Turks in the recommendation report issued on October 6th.

Rehn insists that constant restrictions do not imply a second-class membership. He said the proposal in the recommendation report is legitimate and argued that the existence of this proposal does not mean the mechanism will be applied. Rehn added that this mechanism is considered to be a final resort in case of a serious problem faced in the European labor market in the future.

Rehn claims that there is a two-sided discussion on Turkey in Europe. The Finnish Commissioner explained that one side expects highly dramatic changes that will never happen. He believes that if there is economic improvement in Turkey, emigration would follow just as it did for Spain and Portugal. He noted: "If you look at the cases of Spain and Portugal, the citizens of these countries working in northern Europe turned back when economic conditions got better. We decreased the transition process from seven years to five years for these countries because the migration had already reversed. We have to wait and see whether the same thing happens for Turkey. It is too early to say anything." Rehn concluded that he does not believe Turkey’s membership will cause dramatic changes.