Citation:
Date Presented:
February 9, 2012Abstract:
This thesis explores the rising salience of public opinion for the potential yet highly uncertain enlargement of the European Union to include Turkey. Although historically European integration and enlargement have proceeded independently of the preferences of relatively quiescent citizens, this modus operandi has come to an end. Through planned referendums and EU issue voting, public spheres in Europe have recently and will continue to exert significant constraining influence over major EU decisions. This thesis addresses the thorny issue of Turkey’s bid for EU membership in light of such recent trends. Whereas ten countries achieved accession in 2004 through the fulfillment of the ‘Copenhagen criteria’ set forth by the EU Commission, I argue that Turkey faces de facto additional barriers on top of standard economic, political, and legal requirements. I find that, in its deeply controversial bid for accession, Turkey is subject to an unprecedented layer of ‘public opinion’ conditionality that operates outside the scope of traditional criteria applied to candidate countries. Drawing from recent scholarship, archival research and Eurobarometer survey data, I focus not on the viewpoints of EU leaders or of the Turkish people, but rather on the distinctive factors and concerns that steer reactions to Turkey’s candidacy in European national public spheres. I first track the rising significance of public opinion in EU-related decision making and note the commitment of France and Austria to hold referendums to eventually decide the fate of the Turkish candidacy. I then address historical and contemporary forces fueling widespread public rejection of Turkish accession, with an emphasis on France, Germany, and Austria. The thesis identifies historical tension and contemporary fears of the dissolution of national identity as the main drivers of cultural protectionism in public spheres. Turkey’s candidacy is thus inextricably intertwined with the intractable identity crises Western European societies are faced with today. The salience of culture and identity as obstacles to accession should not be denied but rather recognized, analyzed and fully debated in the context of the democratization of EU decision making.