IKV organised a meeting titled “The Future of the EU and Türkiye”, in collaboration with Istanbul University COPFUTUREU Jean Monnet Module on 2 May 2024. In his opening statement, IKV Chairperson Ayhan Zeytinoğlu reminded that the Europe Day is going to be celebrated on 9 May, stating that there have been important recent developments on the European integration. Zeytinoğlu argued that although the EU is currently comprised of 27 member countries, this number is going to increase soon and stated that the fact that the EU takes strategic action based on unanimity voting creates problems for candidate countries, especially Türkiye, referring to the problems arising from Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus’s veto. Stating that Türkiye is an important economic and trade partner for the EU, Zeytinoğlu maintained that modernisation of the Customs Union is an important step for improving bilateral relations. In his concluding statements, Zeytinoğlu noted that alignment with the EU’s green and digital agenda is crucial for Türkiye, and there is a need to carry out the process of adaptation more effectively.

Permanent Delegate of the Republic of Türkiye to the EU Ambassador Faruk Kaymakcı started his special address by mentioning the most important factors that are going to directly influence the future of the EU in the coming five years. Kaymakcı maintained that currently, the most important issue for the future of the EU is the Russia-Ukraine war due to the Union’s security concerns, the economic hardships arising from the increase in energy and food prices, and migration from Ukraine. In addition, underlining that the Russia-Ukraine war has become a considerable financial cost for the EU, Kaymakcı added that for the first time, the EU drew up a defence and war budget for Ukraine to finance arms purchases. Pointing to the necessity of aligning Turkish foreign policy towards Russia with that of the EU, Kaymakcı held that Türkiye’s non-violation of the EU sanctions against Russia is important for Türkiye-EU relations. Furthermore, Kaymakcı emphasised that the issue of irregular migration management is also important concerning the Türkiye-EU relations. Noting that the Israel-Palestine issue has also been significant for the EU recently, Kaymakcı said that Türkiye and the EU share the perspective of advocating for a two-state solution mechanism. Kaymakcı concluded his speech by stating that the EU agrees that Türkiye’s membership will be the most valuable among candidate countries; however, mutual trust should be renewed between the parties.

Following the opening and keynote speeches, the panel discussion started under the moderation of IKV Deputy Secretary General M. Gökhan Kilit. The first speaker of the panel section was Prof. Dr. Özgün Erler Bayır. Bayır started her speech by highlighting how critical it is to mainstream the EU projects in Türkiye. Prof. Bayır emphasised that the EU devotes sustained effort to develop policy papers on ways for the EU to become a stronger actor in the future. Referring to the EU’s Jean Monnet actions, Prof. Bayır said that the EU funding programmes for research are numerous; however, Jean Monnet is one of the most crucial programmes and plays an intermediary role in maintaining the EU’s relations with candidate and third countries alive. Prof. Bayır added that topics such as digitalisation, green transition and active youth political participation have been selected and challenges and opportunities have been identified with this module.

The second speaker of the panel IKV Secretary General Assoc. Prof. Çiğdem Nas started her speech by underlining that the upcoming EP elections in the EU will be an important process. Nas maintained that the newly established Parliament is going to be crucial as it will develop new strategies and objectives for the upcoming five years and highlighted that the process should be followed. Nas argued that the recent strategic agenda includes the topics of security, defence, resilience and competitiveness, energy, migration, global engagement and enlargement. Stating that the EU needs to preserve its unity and engage in a reform process in the face of the future enlargement agenda, Nas added that institutional reform objectives include increasing action capacity by becoming a faster decision-maker, strengthening the rule of law and democratic legitimacy and preparing the institutions for enlargement. Highlighting the significance of reforms for EU enlargement, Nas stated that Türkiye’s membership is not on the current EU enlargement agenda. Nas concluded her speech by stating that the Cyprus issue, issues with Greece and Türkiye’s declining alignment with the Copenhagen criteria are among the most crucial issues that hamper membership. The meeting ended following the Q&A session.