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AROUND THE WORLD 3: Turkey Ready for the EU?

This spring, ten countries will become new members of the European Union--but as French President Jaques Chirac recently showed, not just anyone can join. On Thursday, April 29, Chirac held a full-fledged news conference--the first he has done in the past six years! During the conference, Chirac took the opportunity to say he did not think Turkey was ready to enter the European Union (EU). Not only that, but the country may not be able to join for another 10 to 15 years.

Fifteen European countries are members of the EU right now and another ten joined Saturday, May 1, in the biggest addition the EU has experienced in its history. The ten joining are called "new member states." Turkey, however, falls into a different category. Along with Bulgaria and Romania, it is one of three "applicant states," which means it is trying to get approval for entry into the EU.

The EU is a new system based on a lot of treaties entered into since World War II. It is based on the notion that an individual country has to give up some of its sovereignty to the collective body--the EU--and in exchange, it gets certain benefits. A country's sovereignty is more or less its independence to make decisions. So, for example, Spain might give up its power to decide what to do with its national budget, but in return may get special trade deals with other members of the EU. The main idea is that neighboring countries work better together than they do apart.

Although the EU has a lot of political and judicial aspects, it has really become a way to create a single market in the region. Think of some coins you may have seen from other countries--Germany had the mark, Spain had the peso, and France had the franc. But now if you go to Western Europe, you'll find that almost everyone (except England) uses the Euro. The Euro was at first pretty weak compared to the dollar, but now it takes almost $1.20 to equal one Euro.

This economic "plus" explains why a lot of countries would now like their currency to become the Euro as well, but with privilege comes responsibility. "Applicant countries" like Turkey have to pass the approval test before being invited to join the EU. They have to be stable politically, and especially economically, otherwise they might drag down the entire union. Though Turkey is probably the most westernized country that has a Muslim majority, Chirac said it needs a better human rights record before being allowed to join. In the past two years, Turkey has not been lazy with reforms--it abolished the death penalty and gave more cultural rights to Kurdish minorities, but it looks like it still has a long way to go.

--Written by Kari Elassal

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