European Union
Negotiation Project
Fall 2011
Topic: Expansion, including Turkey
The European Union has gone through several waves of expansion in its history. Now, a European Union of 27 faces further expansion. Turkey, Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Macedonia, and Iceland are official candidate countries already engaged in accession negotiations. In July 2009, Turkey passed the 50th anniversary of knocking on the European Union's door. The country is in official talks now, yet some high European officials say the country shouldn't be allowed to join for a variety of reasons.
In addition to Turkey, Croatia, FYROM (Macedonia), Montenegro, and Iceland, other countries loom on the horizon as well as potential candidate countries: Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Albania, Belarus, and Ukraine. Should the European Union allow these countries to join? Where does Europe end? What kinds of countries should be allowed to join the EU?
Because the number of countries being considered for expansion is large, we will narrow our focus to just Turkey, Iceland, Serbia, and Ukraine. Your papers preparing for the negotiation should focus on your country's positions on the admission of all four of these members and WHY your country takes the positions that it does. In our in-class negotiation, we will start with Turkey, but move through the list of countries, as we are able.
Member States and Student Teams:
Austria
Jeff Rock and Jimbo Brumley
Belgium
Catherine McDermott and Marlee Bergmair
Bulgaria
Cyprus
Jarrett Cline and Michael Cooke
Czech Republic
George Coultas and Morgan Jones
Denmark
Katharine Akerman and Alexis Canady
Estonia
Brandon Williamson and Mayra Ramirez
Finland
Cole Gallagher and Lauren Gurganus
France
Caroline Brey and Candice Wells
Germany
Alex Larrowe and Phillip Faulk
Greece
Anne-Christian Johns and Dan Lang
Hungary
Ireland
Ben Roberts and Brett Garcia
Italy
Christian Cook and Sydney Reinwald
Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Josh Harris and Dan D'Andrea
Malta
Netherlands
Halie Scott and Lucas Roche
Poland
Diana Pavel and Nick Nagowski
Portugal
Romania
Michael Lee and Amy Seibert
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Kelly McNeal and Amy Jackson
Sweden
Jordan Miller
United Kingdom
Jonathan Bowie and Dominesa Mitchell
Information Sources:
Because this issue is current, you will need to rely on primary documents (speeches by the prime minister and foreign minister, official policy declarations) and news reports to do a lot of your research. But, you need longer term sources to really understand your country's foreign policy. Don't forget the journal articles and books.
For basic information on the EU, see our EU Intro Lecture.
How to determine your country's foreign policy?
Look at your country's foreign ministry website for overall statements on foreign policy.
Look at what scholars have to say about your country's foreign policy in journal articles and books. Remember, the country's website has a lot of propaganda, what the country wants you to see. The scholarly analysis, even news analysis, will help you to see past the propaganda for a more nuanced portrait of your country.
Then, think about your country's INTERESTS. Does your country have an interest in having Turkey or the other candidate countries in the union? Would it help you? Secondarily, would it help the Union?
Embed your understanding of your country's interests in an understanding of the government's position (can it make policy without regard to others? are you worried about getting re-elected), bureaucratic rivalries (do the military and foreign ministry agree about letting various countries in?), public opinion (check Eurobarometer for your country's people's outlooks on expansion. If your government is facing an election, you may need to have the people on board for your policies), past policy precedent (what has your country done on expansion before? Does it like the country concerned?), and interest groups (trade, economic interests, human rights groups, sub-national groupings?).
For primary sources, try the following:
Go to the European Union's member homepage to find links to your government, foreign ministry, and prime minister's office, for example.
Go the European Union's homepage http://europa.eu/index_en.htm.
EuroGuide (Guide to the European Union, United Kingdom) http://www.euroguide.org/
Embassy, the Electronic Embassy http://www.embassy.org/ (find links to embassies in Washington, DC)
European Governments Online (from the EU) http://europa.eu.int/abc/governments/index_en.html
European Union Online (Official) http://europa.eu.int/index_en.htm
Political Resources on the Net http://www.politicalresources.net/
World Wide Web Virtual Library (WWWVL) International Affairs Resources http://www.etown.edu/vl/
Each six-month period, the EU is led by a different country acting as president. The presidents maintain websites touting the goals and accomplishments of their presidencies. For the second half of 2010, the presidency belongs to Belgium: http://www.eutrio.be/.
A new feature of the union is an elected president, Herman von Rompuy, you can find his page at http://www.european-council.europa.eu/the-president.aspx.
Find public opinion on the EU at Eurobarometer (http://europa.eu.int/comm/public_opinion/index_en.htm).
For some topics: The website of the European Union's Common Foreign and Security Policy at http://europa.eu/pol/cfsp/index_en.htm.
For other topics: The website of the European Commission's Directorate of Enlargement at http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/index_en.htm.
For news on the EU or the topic of our negotiation, check the following:
Lexis-Nexis library database
EU Observer http://www.euobserver.com/. Also, try searching for your country from the search box.
Global Policy at http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/sanction/indxiran.htm
Try also to look into the Library's journal databases (such as Columbia International Affairs Online [CIAO], Ebscohost, JStor, Project Muse, Blackwell Synergy, and Sage Journals) or books to develop a good overview of your country's foreign policy, as analyzed by scholars. This will help you to have a critical understanding of the reasons behind your country's policies. What scholars say and what your country's webpage says may not be the same thing! IN ORDER TO GET A TOP GRADE ON THIS PAPER, YOU MUST USE THE LIBRARY/SCHOLARLY SOURCES TO DEVELOP A NUANCED PORTRAIT OF YOUR COUNTRY'S FOREIGN POLICY.
Updated: October 20, 2011.
Back to Dr. Tan's homepage: http://people.uncw.edu/tanp/