Dealing with Turkey After Ukraine: Why the EU Should Let the Enlargement Approach Go

The events in Ukraine at the end of 2013 might be a sign that we have reached the end of the EU's monopoly on transformative power. President Putin, but also other leaders of important EU neighbours are playing a different geopolitical game than the EU. It is now time to reassess the EU's approach vis-à-vis its neighbours and partners. What are the implications of this reassessment for relations between the EU and Turkey? This commentary argues that accession negotiations no longer provide the most suitable framework for EU-Turkey relations for three main reasons: the dynamics of the accession process, the character and content of the acquis, and the larger geopolitical picture in Europe.

Paper produced within the framework of the project Turkey, Europe and the World.