Turkey and the European Union: Processes of Europeanization, with index.

• Author: Benam, Cigdem Hajipouran
• Position: Book review

Turkey and the European Union: Processes of Europeanization, with index

Edited by Cigdem Nas and Yonca Ozer

Surrey: Ashgate, 2012, 286 pages, ISBN 97814094045296.

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ALMOST eight years on from the start of accession negotiations, the view of Turkey-European Union (EU) relations is somber. The Union is too busy with its enlargement fatigue and economic turmoil, whereas Turkey has been experiencing a confidence boom as a result of its impressive economic performance and proactive foreign policy, pushing the two parties further apart. However, despite this gloomy picture in Turkey's EU membership negotiations, change has been and is taking place in Turkish politics. A crucial question, therefore, is without the full membership perspective what is triggering change in Turkey? Is this change a sign of a continuing process of 'Europeanization'? If yes, how do we explain this? How far does it relate to the appeal of the EU membership and how far can Turkey's various policy fields be Europeanized? What are the limits of Europeanization and under what conditions does it work better? Why are there diverging levels of transformation in different policy fields? These are some of the questions Turkey and the European Union: Processes of Europeanization comprehensively answers.

The book is an exercise beyond the futile question of whether Turkey will ever become a member of the Union, for it focuses on the transformations taking place on the ground. Adopting Europeanization to study domestic change is not a novel approach for sure; how ever, this edited volume provides a comprehensive source for understanding transformation in several policy fields and provides convincing answers to the above questions. The book is comprised of 12 chapters; all dedicated to separate policy areas, ranging from identity to constitutional transformation, feminism to social policy.

The three components of Europeanization are construction, diffusion and institutionalization of rules, procedures and norms. As for Turkey, similar to other candidate countries, the construction process has already been mostly completed, i.e. the Union has a defined acquis communautaire. How far the candidate country will transform, or the rules will be diffused is the challenge. The misfit and membership conditionality are the two crucial components of the Europeanization process. Legislative change does not always guarantee the long-term applicability of new rules and...