Partnership Is No Privilege. The Alternative to EU Membership Is No Turkish Delight

'Privileged partnership' for Turkey as an alternative to full membership of the EU is an ill-considered, unimaginative policy conferring neither ‘privilege’ nor true ‘partnership’. Such a partnership could lead to a potentially irreversible and dramatic rupture in EU–Turkey relations, detrimental to European strategic interests. It would burden Turkey with onerous EU obligations while denying the advantages concomitant with accession, namely increased foreign investment flows, free movement of Turkish workers to EU labour markets, and access to EU agricultural subsidies and structural policies.

EU accession is critical to European influence on Turkey’s ambitious transformation to
embrace globalization and modernity. The clear choice is therefore between approving and
rejecting Turkey’s EU accession, rather than the artificial choice between accession and
privileged partnership.

Chatham House was formally known until 2004 as the Royal Institute of International Affairs. Chatham House is one of the world's leading organisations for the analysis of international issues.