The 'EU - energy - Turkey' Triangle. Does Energy really matter in Turkey's Accession Process?

Scientific Essay from the year 2010 in the subject Politics - Topic: European Union, grade: A, Bilkent University , course: EU policies, language: English, abstract: The aim of this paper is to analyze the dynamics at the core of the relation between Turkey and the European Union (EU), in terms of energy-related issues. The prospect of Turkey's accession to the EU is one of the most controversial issues affecting the wider European political space. This essay would like to shed light on the impact of energy considerations on Turkey's process of accession exploring three inter-related dimensions. First of all, a brief account of the EU's patterns of energy consumption and strategies adopted will be offered. Secondly, the relevance of Turkey as 'energy corridor' linking Eastern energy resources to Western markets will be assessed. Finally, EU member states' standpoints on Turkey's accession will be investigated trying to isolate the impact of energy-driven calculations. A liberal-intergovernmental approach will spell out patterns of divergence or convergence on Turkey's accession evaluating the impact of the energy factor on Turkey's EU eventual membership. In conclusion, this article will show whether or not energy can be considered the determiner for Turkey's accession, pointing out that the 'energy card' should not be overplayed since the EU's acknowledgement of Turkey's energy strategic could not automatically lead to full-membership.