Introduction
Luxembourg is a small state bordered by Belgium, France and Germany. It covers an area of 2586 square kilometres and it has a population of about half a million, making it one of the smallest European states. The territory has been under the influence of several states but has enjoyed autonomy for 11 centuries and it is now a hereditary Grand Duchy –or Constitutional Monarchy. The official languages are French, German and Luxembourgish. The parliamentary system is unicameral. Luxembourg is a founding member of the European Union. Its capital city, also called Luxembourg, is house of many EU institutions. (European Countries, n.d.).
Politics
Jean-Claude Juncker, the Prime Minister of Luxembourg, is a member of the ruling conservative Christian Social Party. He ascended into power in 1995, taking on the position of Jacques Santer, who moved on to become the European Commission president. The government structure in Luxembourg is one of a coalition between Jean-Claude Juncker’s party, and the Socialist Workers Party. At the moment, he is also the finance minister for Luxembourg, a role that he assumed 20 years ago. Juncker has also been the European Council’s President for a six-month term twice, first in 1997, and then later in 2005 (BBC News, 2009).
When Juncker was elected to the parliament for the second time, he saw himself gaining an immense recognition within the EU. He was at one time the chairman of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council –ECOFIN–, a position that placed him in good stead to become the principle architect of the Treaty of Maastricht. Luxembourg Prime Minister’s party, the Christian Social, also happens to be the main political party in Luxembourg, along with the Democratic Party. The Democratics have managed to maintain a consistent lead in the country’s politics, with the result that for the last 69 years (BBC News, 2009), this party has produced a prime minister for Luxembourg for all but 5 of those years.
Economy
In Luxembourg, the economic structure is based on banking, the steel industry and insurance besides agriculture and production of wine. The economic situation in Luxembourg may at best be said to be both stable and open. A 2009 interim focus by the European Commission, the country’s GDP growth is believed to have fallen to 1 percent, down from 5 percent in 2008. However, the end of 2010 expects a full economic stability. The country’s rate of inflation was estimated to have approximated 3.4 percent in 2008, as per the EIU –Economic Intelligence Unit– projections. The inflation rate for 2009 has been pegged at 0.5 percent, but 2010 is expected to realize an improvement, to an average of 1.2 percent (BBC News, 2009). The rate of unemployment has also been projected to stagnate at an average of between 5 and 6 percent up to the end of 2010. At the moment, the Euro is the adopted currency in Luxembourg. Luxembourg’s economy may have overcome the prevailing global financial crisis in a more commendable manner than may have been expected, yet the manufacturing industry in the country is at the moment faced with a downturn. In addition, the developments that are happening abroad also seem to have taken a toll on the country’s financial sector.
Public Opinion on the EU and the Issue of Turkey
A majority of the citizens in Luxembourg have a lot of trust in both the European and national institutions. At the moment, close to two thirds of the members of the population in Luxembourg strongly support the position that their country occupies within the European Union. Nevertheless, there is about one third of the population who still harbor the opinion that their country has not significantly benefited as a result of being a member state of the European Union. Moreover, a large part of the population is strongly in support for the adoption of the Euro as a common currency (EurActiv, 2004). Furthermore, Public opinion in Luxembourg indicates that the European Union should be let free to operate in an efficient, transparent and democratic manner. This, citizens reckon, is bound to accord Europe’s strength in as far as global economic development issues are concerned. With regards to the issue of having the European Union enlarged, Luxembourg, along with Austria and Germany, are strongly opposed to this idea. However, citizens of this country contend that Norway, Switzerland and Iceland are some of the countries that need to be assessed on the possibility of having them join the European Union. On the other hand, the same citizens are opposed to the idea of having Turkey join the European Union, along with Albania.
It is important to notice that the possibility of admitting more members in the EU –such as Turkey– is an activity that might be quite beneficial to Luxembourg. Thus far, the country has managed to support the common retirement fund, and it can be expected that because of the country’s relatively strong financial status, it would be very likely to further increase its benefits if such an enlargement takes place (Nationsencyclopedia 2008).
The issue of Turkey
Ever since it was founded in 1923, Turkey has managed to enjoy a robust European orientation and has also enjoyed trade agreements as well as associations with the European Community –the predecessor of the European Union, a relationship that goes as far back as the 1960s. Following the bold decision by Turkey to apply for EU membership twice, the EU finally reached a unanimous decision in December 2005, to start negotiations for admitting Turkey as a member. Even then, there is a lot that has not yet been accomplished, but we cannot fail to point out that Turkey has been transformed tremendously (Wood & Wolfgang, 2005) as consequence of the reform processes the government has sought to pursue in recent years.
Turkey’s history is rich, in addition to the fact that the country occupies a vital position with regard to security policy. Moreover, the economy of Turkey is growing rapidly, since it has a population that is both hardworking and educated. More importantly, Turkey has been seen to assume the role of a bridge builder at two levels. First, the country connects the Muslim world to Europe. Secondly, it has sought to link the “West and the Orient”. This rare recipe, when incorporated into the European Union, would help bolster Europe to greater heights. However, Turkey has been plagued by what the European Parliament has described as “continuous slowdown of the reform process” (Kubosova, 2007). The process of ascending to the EU’s membership entails a number of formal steps. Prior to a country’s membership application, it is often required to append an association agreement signature, in readiness for its candidacy preparation and ultimately, becoming a full member. Following a formal application by a country, the Commission is requested by the Council to process an opinion concerning how willing the applicant is to commence negotiations. Once the Council agrees with the negotiations to start, a screening process follows (European Commission, n.d). This is whereby both the candidate and the Commission assess the laws of the EU and also those of an applicant, for purposes of evaluating existing differences.
Then, the commission may propose the start of negotiations on the basis of law chapters that a council is convinced are ideal for the advancement of constructive negotiations. When both the applicant and the council reach an agreement on an area, then a chapter has sufficiently been implemented (European Commission, n.d). The European Council receives annual progress reports from the European Commission regarding the plight of a country that wishes to ascend to EU’s membership. The signing of accession treaty marks the completion of negotiation, but it has to receive an approval from all the union’s member states. Upon ratification, the applicant country is then deemed to have joined the European Union on that date which the treaty has been specified.
In regards to steps taken by Turkey for the process towards EU’s membership, it first forwarded an application on the April 14, 1987. Ever since 1963, Turkey has acted as an associate member to the European Union, as well as to its various predecessors. In 1995, Turkey entered into an agreement with Customs Union of the EU, with the result that the country became recognized, officially as a potential candidate to be awarded full EU’s membership come the December 12, 1999. The signing of this agreement took place at the European Council summit held in Helsinki (Wood & Wolfgang, 2005). On the October 3, 2005 negotiations towards the realization of this initiative commenced. However, it has been indicated that this process may very well take more than a decade to complete. The most important point to note here is that the bid by Turkey to join the European Union has been dogged with controversy, with some of the member states today opposed to the idea of having the union enlarged.
These problems appear to emanate from both domestic as well as external quarters. Countries such as Austria and France have considered calling for a referendum to vote on Turkey’s accession. One of the major issues that seem to have complicated the ongoing negotiations about Turkey’s accession to European Union membership is that of Cyprus. Officials from the European Union have pointed out that Turkey has been quite slow to initiate reforms. This, coupled with the problem of Cyprus, resulted in Olii Rehn, the Enlargement Commissioner for the European Union, to issue a warning of “an impending train crash” in March 2007; in as far as the ongoing negotiations are concerned (McCormick, 2007). On the basis of these setbacks, the ongoing negotiations had to be halted again in December 2006. It is anticipated that Turkey may not join the European Union as a full member until 2013. This is also the date when the European Union’s next financial perspectives are projected to be implemented. At the moment, Ankara has shown every effort to be compliant with the laws by the European Union. However, Brussels will not commit itself to supporting the 2013 deadline, furthering speculation claims that the process of accession shall at least be achieved in 2021.
Another European Union member who is opposed to the accession of Turkey into the Union membership is Greece, and the reason why this country is opposed to such a move is because Turkey has been quite slow on the implementation of the Copenhagen criteria. The Copenhagen criteria of 1993 spells out that a member country should show respect for the rule of law and human rights, as well as minorities’ protection. From an economic point of view, an applicant to join the European Union is required to have in place a market economy that is up and running, in addition to a capacity to handle the market competition that would emanate from the creation of a single union (Kubosova, 2007). Finally, it is required that an applicant be in a position to assume economic and political aims of the EU.
Points to be discussed
Jean-Claude Juncker, the Prime Minister of Luxembourg, is a member of the ruling conservative Christian Social Party. The government structure in Luxembourg is one of a coalition between Jean-Claude Juncker’s party, and the Socialist Workers Party. In Luxembourg, the economic structure is mainly based on banking, the steel industry and insurance. The Euro is the adopted currency in Luxembourg. Surveys show that a majority of citizens in Luxembourg trust and support both European and national institutions (Eurobarometer, 2008). This is clearly illustrated in the fact that a large portion of the population views adoption of the Euro as a beneficial factor for European integration. In regards to the issue of having the European Union enlarged and admitting Turkey as a new member state, citizens of Luxembourg are strongly opposed to this idea. However, citizens of this country contend that Norway, Switzerland and Iceland are some of the countries that need to be assessed on the possibility of having them join the European Union (Eurobarometer 2008).
Despite these squabbles within the European Union member countries, Turkey has been keen on joining the European Union. Turkey has been seen to assume the role of a bridge builder between the Muslim world to Europe as well as the “West and the Orient” (Kubosova 2007). Yet, the European Parliament contends that Turkey has been slow to initiate a reform process towards the completion of the 35 chapters required for its consideration as a full member of the EU. This, coupled with the problem of Cyprus, has decelerated the process and postponed Turkey’s ambitions to become a full member even further. Greece also emphasizes its opposition to the accession of Turkey to the EU for its failure to honour the Copenhagen treaty of 1993. We can therefore conclude that it is imperative for Turkey to put its house in order if it wishes to turn the dream of becoming a full member of the EU into a tangible reality.
Works Cited
EurActiv (2004). “EU-Turkey relations”. European information on Enlargement and neighbours. 2009. Web.
Eurobarometer (2008) “Eurobarometer 69”. Public Opinion in the European Union. Web.
European Commission (n.d). Conditions for Enlargement. 2009, Web.
European Countries: Luxembourg (n.d). 2009, Web.
BBC News. (2009). “Country profile: Luxembourg”. Web.
Kubosova, Lucia. (2007). “Turkey targets 2013 for EU legal compliance”. EUobserver, 2009, Web.
McCormick, John. The European Union: Politics and Policies. (4th Edition). New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007.
Robinson, David. An expat’s life, Luxembourg & the white rose. ISBN13: 9780595663231.
Wood, Steve, & Wolfgang Quaisser. (2005). “Turkey’s Road to the EU: Political Dynamics,
Strategic Context and Implications for Europe.” European Foreign Affairs Review 10(2): 147-173.
ZEI (2006). EU Turkey monitor. Vol. 2, No. 3. 2009, Web.