The way towards customs union: a policy-analysis of the negotations between actors of the European Union and Turkey

Abstract

In this paper, Turkey-EU negotiations in 1995 leading to a customs union (CU) by January 1996 are to be analyzed. An approach that focuses on actors and issues is chosen to reflect upon the supranational character of the negotiations. It is stated that there are interest-coalitions on supranational, national, and intergovernmental levels over and above the EU-Turkey divide. In a first step, the focus will be on the supranational actors within the EU-organs. It is assumed, that EU's integration logic and mechanisms also work in the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy. In the second part, the actions of Turkey's actors on different levels shall on one hand be examined with regard to their interaction with the EU-actors, on the other hand with regard to their impact on domestic changes, which have been required by the EU to bring about the Customs Union.Agreement (CUA) The third part reexamines economic issues at the heart of the Agreement, whereas the fourth part deals with political issues, which have been excluded from the Agreement, but still pose the largest obstacle to further rapprochement.