THE EFFECTS OF THE ACCESSION COUNTRIES ON EUROPEANIZATION: EVIDENCE FROM TURKEY

This article explores the concept of Europeanization as changes in European Union’s (EU) external boundaries within the context of enlargement, with a special focus on Turkey. Europeanization reoccurs as the EU expands its boundaries through accession of the member states. Expanding to culturally and geographically different area, its meaning may further be contested and redefined. This is based on the assumption that accession countries are likely to appeal to a shared collective identity, in order to evoke common standards. Concern here is with the definition is that the creation of new powers for the EU are largely different with conception of European integration. Drawing on various scholars, the concept relates specifically to the EU. The accession of Turkey into the EU offers significant theoretical and empirical insights into the way in which the concept of Europeanization is used to describe the changes in Union’s external borders. What may emerge from Turkey’s experience towards the EU membership is the evolutionary and contested nature of Union's conditionality. The study provides useful conceptual insights into the transformative power of the EU and highlights the important policy legacies affecting the current EU enlargement strategy