Whether or not Turkey should become a member state in the EU is a topic of much debate both within Turkey itself and throughout the rest of Europe. Officially Turkey is a ‘Eurasian’ country and is considered in some ways a part of Europe while at the same time being considered an Asian country, but is not currently part of the EU.
Turkey first applied to accede to the EU in 1987, and was one of the first countries to join the Council of Europe and the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development. However in 1989 the EU refused to begin negotiations due to economic and political problems in the country at the time as well as their poor relationship with Greece. However the commission did state that in the long term membership was the desired outcome. In 2004 the EU then agreed to begin the negotiations and began to negotiate on the 35 chapters of the acquis communautaire (the legislation and legal acts that embody the European Union Law). This is still underway, and once this is completed all the existing member states must still unanimously agree to grant Turkey membership.
But during this time, feelings within Turkey toward the EU have somewhat grown lukewarm. This is particularly true around coastal areas of Turkey such as Bodrum and Antalya – which have gained a lot of popularity thanks to the increasingly high cost of visiting European countries such as Greece or Ireland. Coupled with the Eurozone crisis, the many reforms that Turkey has had to go through to be considered for membership (including the abolishment of capital punishment), and the sting of seeming rejection; many Turkish residents are unsure whether they still want or need to be a part of the club.
And feelings within the EU towards Turkey’s membership are also mixed. One concern is the huge population of Turkey – with over 70 million residents the country would be the second largest state in the EU, and through the Lisbon treaty this would give them a bigger say in decision making that would affect the rest of the member states. Others worry that Turkey is simply too different and too unstable compared to the rest of Europe – with the Ottoman Empire historically being at odds with the rest of Europe, with 95% of the country being Muslim (despite its official status as secular), with a turbulent political history, and with only a lose geographic connection to the continent.
That said there are of course advantages too, with 40% of Turkey’s exports going to the EU, and with the high economic growth rates in Turkey being the envy of much of the rest of the EU. Furthermore Turkey could be an important ally in dealing with threats from Iran, and could provide an alternate route for the transit of Russian energy to the EU. Only time will tell what the fate of these accession plans, an whether or not the outcome is ultimately a desirable one for all parties involved.

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In tough economic times a lot of different things come under scrutiny and often this means deciding on a countries loyalties, allies and commitments. In the UK a topic that has long been controversial is now receiving even more attention is membership of the EU, something which has the country divided. Here we will look at some of the reasons not everyone is thrilled by the idea of being in EU and then you can come to your own conclusions.

Reasons Against the UK in the EU

They Enforce Laws: The EU involves itself in many aspects of the law in the UK as well as elsewhere. Stricter motorbike driving laws for instance, have been recently proposed that will force bikers to wear fluorescent clothing, and prevent them from modifying and servicing their bikes. Other laws meanwhile have prevented the UK from exiling criminals from the country and generally many Brits feel that the EU is too invasive in enforcing rules and regulations that should be left to the British government.

It’s a Drain on Resources: The UK has been called on to bail out many of the other EU countries at the expense of the tax payer, and there are many other costs to being in the EU – The Common Agricultural Policy for instance allegedly costs families up to £1,200 in increased food expenses.

Immigration: The UK has also been forced to allow a lot more immigration into its borders thanks to its membership of the EU which also of course results in a drain on resources, jobs and more.

Reasons Against Leaving the EU

Of course however there are benefits to being the EU otherwise the UK wouldn’t have joined to begin with. Of course there is the large advantage of the single market which makes trade much easier between the member states. Meanwhile the advantage in size that the EU has as a combined force enables it to compete with other larger economies such as China and the US, which is something it might be beneficial to be a part of. At the same time immigration works both ways and it does make it easier for UK citizens to travel and relocate.

It’s also worth bearing in mind that many of the problems that come from the EU would still exist even if Britain were to leave – the country would still have to appease the wishes of the EU to an extent just to open trade, though relationships could be damaged in the process. Some commenters have speculated that it may be preferable to instead try to encourage reform within the EU so that the UK could retain membership without having quite so many drawbacks. It’s a complicated issue and either way there will be supporters and opponents. Only time will tell what is eventually deigned best for the country.

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European Union expansion refers to the process of the EU expanding across Europe via accession of new member states. In other words as more and more countries join the EU this sees European Union expansion across the continent. At the same time the term European Expansion could also be generalized to refer to the extended political and cultural reach of the organization and its increased power.

Already there has been much European Union expansion and it has gone from the ‘Inner Six’ countries that founded the ‘European Coal and Steel Community’ (a precursor to the EU) to the 27 members now a part of the EU.

The Inner Six countries were the ones that started it all in 1952. They responded to the Schuman Declaration’s call that coal and steel resources should be pooled under a single authority. The Six were signed the ‘Treaty of Paris’ and represented Europes first ‘Supernational’ community. These original six were France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. The intention was to make war ‘not only unthinkable, but materially impossible’.

After the events of the Suez Crisis (an offensive war by France, the UK and Israel against Egypt over the Suez Canal, but which was cut short due to pressure from the US and USSR) however the UK came to the belief that it could no longer operate independently and joined the Six to become the Seven.

European Union expansion today revolves around countries applying for membership. In theory any European country is able to join the EU and begin integration but to do this they must meet certain criteria. The ‘Maastricht Treaty’ states that any European state may apply as long as it ‘respects the principles of liberty, democracy, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and the rule of law’.

European Union expansion is an ongoing process and is currently underfoot. The countries Croatia, Iceland, Macedonia, Turkey and Montenegro are all officially ‘candidate states’ while Albania and Serbia are pending having applied for membership. Further, Bosnia and Herzegovinia have begun the preparation of their application, while Kosovo is negotiating whether to begin application. Following the breakup of Yugoslavia, the Western Balkans have ‘prioritized’ membership. Interestingly the potential for European Expansion has actually increased as three Caribbean islands have been integrated into the Netherlands in 2010.

Meanwhile European Union expansion is also continuing in other senses. For instance the Eurozone which is the term for those member states that use the Euro as currency is growing more slowly. Some leaders meanwhile are also pushing for an inner more fully integrated Federal Europe within the slower EU and this could be considered European Union expansion in another sense.

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The concept of the European Union is a controversial one at times. The central idea is to achieve more financial and political stability through cooperation between European countries. This then means easier trading, migration and more but some feel at the risk of a loss of national identity for the individual countries. Here we will look in more detail at some of the European Union pros and cons by looking at the changes that they’ve made so far and how they impact the continent positively and negatively.

The Euro

 

One of the biggest changes that the European Union has made to the continent is to introduce the ‘Euro’ to many countries. This has many benefits meaning that people traveling through Europe only need carry one kind of currency through many of the countries (the countries combined are referred to as the ‘Eurozone’). At the same time it also facilitates trade between those countries and gives them a common goal rather than pitting them against each other.

At the same time though it is not without its negative points though. For instance the existence of the Euro is in some ways contributing to the economic crisis on the continent with countries like Greece that are struggling dragging down the overall value of the Euro for those countries that are not struggling (though conversely Greece would possibly be in a worse position were it not for the Euro).

 

Migration

 

Another important aspect of the European Union pros and cons is the impact that the EU had on migration, and since the EU was implemented it has resulted in the ability to move more freely between countries both when traveling and when setting up residence. This makes the whole process much easier and means that residents are now freer to choose where they live and more able to move to warmer climates or the countries that provide work.

However on the downside it also makes it very difficult for certain countries to refuse entry to large numbers of refugees and immigrants which can place a strain on the individual country’s resources. At the same time other countries may lose their skilled workers as they immigrate to countries where they can get better salaries for the same work.

 

Trading

 

Many European Union pros and cons revolve around trading and the EU has brought in many rules and regulations that aim to encourage trade between European countries. This means on the one hand of course that more money stays within Europe, but it also in some ways limits corporations within those countries. For instance a law affecting procurement from the EU states that companies have to re-evaluate all contracts rather than staying with known businesses. While this gives more European countries a fairer chance of getting work, it also costs the individual organizations more and means more ‘red tape’ for them to navigate.

 

Politics/Democracy

 

The European Union allows countries to do collectively what they could not do individually – that is to compete with countries like America and China on a global scale. This of course should in theory strengthen Europe’s position globally and politically, but it also threatens to take away some of the power of individual governments. Many describe the European Union as ‘bureaucratic’ and at times even un-democratic as many of the officials are appointed rather than elected. These same officials then make many laws that impact the individual members states without input from their local governments. This takes the power away from the people and is one of the most serious cons of the European pros and cons. However at the same time this does allow for many large-scale changes to be implemented quickly on a broad scale – recent laws on outdoor heating and on the engine sizes of cars for instance should have a very quick positive impact on the environment. The European Union of course also costs money which needs to be considered among the European Union pros and cons and of course this money comes out of taxes.

In theory the original idea that sat behind the EU was to make war impossible by bonding the countries politically and culturally (Robert Schuman declared that a supranational community would make war ‘not only unthinkable but materially impossible’). These ideas germinated following WW2, and since then a pan-European war has not occurred – and the EU can somewhat be credited with that.

 

Culture

 

            By bringing the disparate cultures of Europe closer together there are many European Union pros and cons. On the one hand it means that cultures are shared and individual countries are made more aware of the activities and beliefs of their neighbors. By the same token though it also risks ‘merging’ these cultures to an extent where they are no longer as individual and diverse as they once were. The European Union pros and cons in this respect could almost be looked at as: more cultural diversity within member countries, but less across the continent.

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