The European Commission's role in EU-Turkey relations

Abstract

Based on a review of the relations between the European Commission (EC) and Turkey across a selection of policy areas, this chapter illustrates two aspects of EC influence in EU-Turkey relations. First, as a defender of the rules of the (enlargement) game, the Commission has rebuffed attempts by some member states to undermine Turkey's membership prospects. The EC's influence in the debate on the most appropriate approach to Turkey underlines its autonomous role within the EU system and the relevance of its norm-based argumentation. However, due to Turkey's current alienation from the EU's normative standards, norm-based arguments in favor of Turkey's membership have lost much of their weight even within the Commission. Second, the EC has been an important 'agent of change' in Turkish domestic politics, even in times of deteriorating political relations with the EU. Because of its contributions to regular interactions, in particular, in the framework of projects financed by the EU's Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance, the EC has continued to increase administrative capacity and policy learning processes within Turkey's bureaucracy, which, in turn, contributed to Ankara's continued harmonization with the EU acquis in some sectors, despite the waning relevance of the EU's conditionality strategy. © The Author(s) 2021.