The second panel of the series titled “New Perspectives: Mathematics and Linguistics of European Commission Progress Reports on Turkey”, of which the first was organised in Istanbul, was held in Brussels on 24 November 2015 in cooperation of IKV and Friedrich Naumann Foundation.

Following the opening speech of the panel given by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation Project Coordinator Aret Demirci, IKV Junior Researcher Büşra Çatır made a presentation on the studies published by IKV since 2013 regarding the European Commission Progress Reports titled “Mathematics of Progress” and “Linguistics of Progress”. During the panel discussion, which was moderated by IKV Deputy Secretary-General and Research Director Melih Özsöz, IKV Secretary-General Assoc. Prof. Çiğdem Nas, IKV Brussels Representative Haluk Nuray, European Commission Deputy Head of Turkey Desk Patrick Paquet and Hürriyet Daily News Journalist Barçın Yinanç shared their on the European Commission’s 18^th Progress Report on Turkey and the future of Turkey-EU relations.

In the first round of the panel, reminding that the total number of pages of previous 17 Progress Reports was on Turkey was 1,786, IKV Deputy Secretary-General and Research Director Melih Özsöz indicated that the reflection of the Progress Reports on Turkish public is below the expectations and asked the discussants to share their ideas on ways to rebuild the trust in Turkey-EU relations.

In his assessment with regard to the European Commission Progress Reports on Turkey, IKV Brussels Representative Haluk Nuray mentioned that the Progress Reports no longer serve their end purpose while indicating that the question of how many more reports Turkey needs to become a member of the EU remains unanswered. Based on the findings of the study titled “Linguistics of Progress” IKV Brussels Representative, Nuray highlighted the perception problem between Turkey and the EU.

As regards the perception problem, European Commission Deputy Head of Turkey Desk Patrick Paquet indicated that the new generation Progress Reports introduced by the Commission in 2015 with its new methodology could be considered as a first step towards creating a common language. Underlining that the Commission presented specific elements of guidance in certain areas that are suggested to be completed in the next year to create further progress in Turkey’s alignment with the EU, EU Representative Paquet indicated that the performance of the candidate countries could be better assessed in the next year with the introduction of new methods to the Commission Progress Reports.

In her assessment of the ways to rebuild the trust between Turkey and the EU, Hürriyet Daily News Journalist Barçın Yinanç stressed that the EU should consider Turkey as an asset rather than a liability and Turkey should also act accordingly. Yinanç asserted that the postponement of the 18^th Progress Report on Turkey after the snap elections in Turkey is a similar practice given that the EU builds its relationship with Turkey on the basis of double-standards. Yinanç also highlighted that Turkey should better analyse the interests of the member states and respond accordingly to maximize its interests.

IKV Secretary-General Assoc. Prof. Çiğdem Nas mentioned that the postponement revealed the EU’s dilemma of values vs. interests underlining the disappointment created by the postponement of the 18^th Progress Report in the eyes of the Turkish public. IKV Secretary-General Nas also highlighted the demands of the EU from Turkey for finding a solution for the recent refugee crisis which also affects the EU to a great extent while mentioning the critical importance of burden-sharing as regards the refugee crisis which could also be the first step in rebuilding the trust in Turkey-EU relations.

At the second round of the panel during which the outlook of the Turkey-EU relations was discussed, IKV Brussels Representative Haluk Nuray indicated that the modernisation of the Customs Union between Turkey and the EU should be realised to keep the momentum of Turkey-EU relations since the political and economic dialogue are considered to be complementary to each other.

European Commission Deputy Head of Turkey Desk Patrick Paquet underlined that the pace of the reforms has slowed down in 2015 due to the elections and the backsliding occurred in some areas such as the freedom of expression and freedom of assembly. Reminding the roadmap presented by the 18^th Progress Report for the reforms that need to be put into effect in Turkey, EU Representative Paquet indicated the potential further progress in Turkey’s alignment with the EU if the new government takes steps in line with the roadmap presented by the Commission. EU Representative Pacquet also highlighted that the cooperation between Turkey and the EU in the areas of common interests has the potential to move the relations to a new stage while accelerating the Turkey’s accession negotiations.

IKV Secretary-General Assoc. Prof. Çiğdem Nas indicated that the relations between Turkey and the EU proceeds with the modernisation of the Customs Union and visa liberalisation dialogue along with the accession negotiations while these processes could also lead to better implementation of the EU’s transformative power in Turkey in economic and political arena as well as contributing to Turkey’s integration with the EU.

In her assessment with regard to the general outlook of Turkey-EU relations, Barçın Yinanç added that the EU should always keep the membership prospect alive in its strategic relations with Turkey.