EU’S GRADE IN ITS RELATIONS WITH TURKEY: “C”
A leading European think tank, the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) released the 5th annual edition of its European Foreign Policy Scorecard. The study assesses the EU and its member states’ performance in 65 foreign policy issues in six key areas: Relations with Russia, China, the United States, Middle East/North Africa, Wider Europe and EU's performance in multilateral institutions and crisis management.
According to the Scorecard which also examines EU’s relations with Turkey within four areas, the EU’s overall performance in its relations with Turkey in 2014 received the grade “C”.
Both categories of “relations with Turkey on the Cyprus issue” and of EU’s role as regards to the “rule of law, democracy and human rights in Turkey” received the grade “C-“ and are considered to be among the least successful EU policies in 2014. Regarding EU’s “relations with Turkey on the Cyprus issue”, the study indicates that there is no clarity as to when the reunification talks will resume and argues that this continues to undermine the EU’s policy vis-à-vis Turkey. For “the rule of law, democracy and human rights”, the study states that while united in their concern over Turkey’s anti-democratic tendencies, EU Member States remained divided on how to address this issue.
On the other hand, “bilateral relations with Turkey” gained momentum with the visa liberalisation dialogue and after the entry into force of the Readmission Agreement. Giving the EU a “C+”, the study highlights the progress made by the Italian EU Presidency in the discussions about opening Chapter 17 on Economic and Monetary Policy, as well as about opening Chapters 23 and 24 on Judiciary and Fundamental Rights and on Justice, Freedom and Security.
According to the study, regarding EU’s “relations with Turkey on regional issues”, Turkey’s management of its relations with Russia has diverged from that of the EU and policies over Syria remain. In this area, the EU received the grade “C+”.
Please visit the following link for the European Foreign Policy Scorecard 2015 Report: http://www.ecfr.eu/page/-/ECFR125_SCORECARD_2015.pdf