Turkey’s Negotiations to Last ‘At Least’ 10 years

In this process that is set to last at least ten years, Ankara will negotiate with Brussels to adapt its institutions and structures to EU standards. When the 31 sections envisaged by EU legislation are negotiated and completed and the resulting accession convention is approved by members, Turkey will be a member of the EU.

We have the advantage of our first addressee being Great Britain, which will then be term president. London will conduct full membership negotiations on behalf of the 25 EU member countries for nearly three months. Over the course of the negotiations Ankara will have to address a different EU member country each six months. Under this scheme, Turkey will be in the contradictory position of having to negotiate its future membership with Cyprus, which it has not yet recognized as a state.

Each of the 31 sections of EU legislation requires a unanimous vote to be concluded. Therefore one of 25 member countries can theoretically stop negotiations whenever it desires.

The head negotiator

With the start of negotiations, one of the most important questions is who will be assigned as the head negotiator for Turkey. Since the negotiations are so difficult candidate countries assign people who know the EU well and have the political weight to be head negotiator. Preferably, this person should know several languages.

Risk of veto and referendum

Theoretically, the positive result of negotiations does not guarantee membership. Even if Turkey completes negotiations successfully, it could see a veto of a member country, which may be triggered by a referendum.

The content of the negotiations

The main goal of the negotiations is to fix which provisions are suitable for each country’s membership. In other words, EU membership is open for bargaining in some areas, though candidates have to accept the Acquis Communitarie, which consist of detailed laws and rules included in the treaties of Rome, Maastricht, Amsterdam and Nice which are the founding conventions of the EU. Negotiations focus on how a candidate country will adapt, apply or control the application.

31 sections, thousands of experts

Before starting the negotiations, Turkey will fix its own positions on the 31 sections of EU legislation. During the negotiation process many experts will be needed. Ankara is expected to employ an additional 1,000 specialists to cope with the negotiation process. The sections are: free movement of goods, people, and capital; freedom of service assurance; corporate law; competition policy; agriculture; fishing; transportation; taxation; economic and monetary union; statistics; social work; energy; industrial policy; small and medium scale businesses; science and research; education; telecommunication and communication; culture and visual-audio policy; regional policies and coordination; environment; protection of consumers and assurance of health; justice and internal affairs; Customs Union; foreign affairs; common foreign and security policies; financial control; finance; budget; and others.