European Integratıon (ENG) — Ünite 6 Soru-Cevap

These are; the Single European Act (1986), the Treaty of Maastricht (1992), the Treaty of Amsterdam (1997), the Treaty of Nice (2001) and the Treaty of Lisbon (2007).

The enlargement of the European Union refers to the accession of new member states to the Union.

The EU’sdevotion to the unification of European states has manifested itself as federalism, a model of political integration and organization for which
its embodied form is federation.

In order for the federation to be permanent, there must be legal, institutional,
political and social mechanisms in place to keep the members together.

Functionalism, an international integration theory, argues that intersocietal and interstate economic, political, cultural and military relationships are in perpetual motion. This theory was developed by David Mitrany in the 1930s.

Mitrany links the existence of a real peace environment to the existence of an international system where states are more integrated through common interests and needs, and therefore more influenced by each other, which in turn increases their dependence on each other. For building the peace, functionalism emphasizes the existence of functional international organizations that are free
from national interests and encourage more intense cooperation among actors.

Neo-Functionalism.

One of the basic concepts emphasized by neo-functionalism is spill-over, which means that cooperation or integration in a particular policy area can spread to other related policy areas because of the contact with each other.

The EU’s response to the changes in the political picture of Europe over the last seventy years has been to support the countries aiming to join the Union, to
promote their economic growth and solidarity, and to develop the democratic powers of the countries newly freed of dictatorship.

Each phase of this process has three stages, all of which are subject to the approval of the existing member states. These stages are:
• Granting the country applying for EU membership the official status of
“candidate country” after presentation of the membership perspective;
• Initiation of accession negotiations;
• Accession of the country to the Union by approval of all member states,following the completion of accession negotiations and necessary reforms.

From the economic perspective, the enlargement process leads to a rise in the Union’s total GDP, growth of the trade volume with the opening of new markets, creation of cheap labor opportunities, reduction of regional differences and greater overall economic dynamism from the addition of new member states.

The efforts to eliminate security threats and create a dominant sense of peace and stability over the entire continent, as well as the moral responsibility of reuniting a Europe that was divided during the Cold War are observed to be the underlying reasons for the enlargement.

Regarding Turkey, the Union observed that if Turkey were to be excluded from
the enlargement, its ability to influence Turkey would diminish; therefore, it has been decided that granting the candidate status to Turkey would be a much more rational strategy to influence and transform it in line with the Union’s own interests.

Article 2 of the Treaty defines the principles of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality and the rule of law as common principles and values of the EU, emphasizing that these principles and values are prerequisites for EU membership and even for application.

Apart from Europeanness, the other criteria a candidate country should meet are set out in the Copenhagen Summit (1993) in light of the experience gained from the first three enlargements and within the scope of the fifth enlargement wave involving the Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs):Political Criteria: Presence of a stable institutional structure guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for and protection of minorities.
Economic Criteria: Presence of a functioning market economy and a capacity to cope with competitive pressure and market forces within the Union.
Compliance with the Acquis Communautaire: Possession of the capacity to adopt and implement EU legislation, including alignment with the objectives of political, economic and monetary union.

Contrary to classical negotiations, bargaining and maneuvering are very limited in accession negotiations between the EU and candidate countries. In this process, the content of the criteria, standards and implementations of the EU
acquis are non-negotiable; rather, these issues can only be negotiated in terms of the length of time to accept and put them into practice effectively. 

   Albania
• Republic of North Macedonia
• Montenegro
• Serbia
• Turkey

Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo are potential candidates of the EU

They are the countries that have signed the treaty of accession* obtain the
status of ‘acceding countries’ and are expected to become full member states on the date set out in the treaty.

The fifth and most comprehensive enlargement process, which involved 10 Central and Eastern European countries, as well as Cyprus and Malta,
was initiated with the 1993 Copenhagen Summit and completed with the accession of eight Central and Eastern European candidate countries, Cyprus
and Malta in 2004, and Bulgaria and Romania in 2007 to the EU.

The issue of the British exit from the EU has been referred to as Brexit,
and the process of separation from the EU, which has led to deep political rifts in England, has yet to be realized.

Climate change, energy dependence, illegal migration and terrorism are the issues on which the EU must be more active in the international arena.