Cosmopolitan entrapment: The failed strategies to reverse Turkey's EU membership eligibility

Abstract

Five years after the opening of accession talks, Turkey's EU membership prospects still provoke great controversy. Turkey-skeptics in Europe regularly voice their opposition to Turkey's EU accession. Based on the concept of normative entrapment, this paper analyzes their argumentative strategies to reverse Turkey's EU membership prospects. The finding is that so far the discourse of the Turkey-skeptics has had only a weak impact on the accession process. No argument has changed the official position of the EU, which still consistently links progress in the accession talks to compliance with basic democratic norms. Especially the European Commission resolutely rebutted the arguments against Turkey's EU accession and acted as a strong defender of the agreed rules of procedure and the cosmopolitan approach to EU enlargement.