Europeanisation of policy-making in Turkey and its limits1

Abstract

This chapter discusses the impact of the European Union on macroeconomic, regional development and immigration policies and governance in Turkey during the 2000s. It also explores the extent to which these changes represent instances of ‘Europeanization’. Following the ‘policy structure approach’, it traces changes in principles, objectives, procedures and instruments of these key policy sectors. It shows that these changes resulted in stronger government policy commitment reflected in increased ‘policy intensity’ and ‘policy density’. All of these changes led to an ever-larger ‘policy capacity’ of the Turkish state. The chapter concludes that the ‘transformative power’ of the EU in shaping policy structures, expanding both the density and intensity of these policies and enhancing the policy capacity is overwhelmingly large in Turkey.

Configurational analysis of environmental NGOs and their influence on environmental policy in Turkey

“…The voices of ENGOs have begun growing in strength together with a comprehensive body of legislation for sustainable development, but there are still limitations to good governance in this regard, reflected in growth-oriented, patronage-based modernization projects that prioritize economic growth at the expense of environmental and social concerns (Mert, 2016;Kadirbeyoğlu et al, 2017). Recently, the declining weight of EU conditionality has also had a negative impact on the promotion of civil rights and environmental policies in Turkey (Bölükbaşı et al, 2018). Although the Europeanization of interest group strategies is beyond the scope of this study, it should be noted that the anti-Western stance of the Turkish government has undermined the positive impact of EU conditionality in terms of participatory democracy and the adaptation of Turkish national legislation in line with EU law.…”