MODERNISING THE EU-TURKEY CUSTOMS UNION AS AN INTEREST-DRIVEN INITIATIVE

Abstract

The customs union (CU) established in 1996 between the EU and Turkey has always been regarded by the Turkish side as the main device for eventually achieving full EU membership as envisaged by the Association Agreement of 1963. Currently, in the absence of a well-defined and strong membership prospect, continued structural deficiencies of the CU and global pressures force both parties to modernise the CU to meet their shared economic interests and high level of interdependence. This paper explains why and how the parties need to modernise the CU and discusses political difficulties before the modernisation process. The paper reveals that the parties’ preferences regarding modernisation and the specific parameters that negotiations may depend on are mainly generated by the domestic interests of societal actors.

Keywords

• Customs Union
• modernisation of the Customs Union
• liberal intergovernmentalism
• EU-Turkey relations

Çıkar Odaklı Bir İnisiyatif Olarak AB-Türkiye Gümrük Birliği’nin Modernizasyonu

Öz

Türkiye ile AB arasında Ocak 1996’da kurulan Gümrük Birliği, 1963 Ortaklık Anlaşması’nın da öngördüğü üzere, Türkiye tarafından AB üyeliği için hep önemli bir araç olarak görülmüştür. Ancak uzun bir gümrük birliği ilişkisine rağmen üyeliğin orta vadede beklenmediği düşünüldüğünde, mevcut yapısal sorunları ve güncellenme ihtiyacı Gümrük Birliği’nin reformunu ortak ekonomik çıkarlara sahip ve yüksek derecede karşılıklı bağımlı taraflar için acil bir ihtiyaç haline getirmiştir. Nitekim taraflar Mayıs 2015’te Gümrük Birliği’nin modernisasyonu sürecini başlatmışlardır. Bu çalışma tarafların neden ve ne şekilde bu sürece angaje olduklarını açıklamayı hedeflemekte ve bu sürecin başarıya ulaşmasını zora sokan mevcut siyasi zorlukları tartışmaktadır. Çalışma, genelde Gümrük Birliği’nin modernisasyonu açısından, özelde de modernisasyon müzakerelerine konu olabilecek meseleler açısından tarafların tercihlerinin, Liberal Hükümetlerarası kuramın öne sürdüğü üzere, ağırlıklı olarak toplumsal aktörlerin çıkarlarının etkisi altında oluştuğunu göstermektedir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Gümrük Birliği
• Gümrük Birliği'nin modernisasyonu
• Liberal Hükümetlerarasıcılık
• AB-Türkiye ilişkileri

Kaynakça

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