A de facto cooperation? The increasing role of the European Union in improved relations between Georgia and Turkey

Abstract

This article focuses on the role of the European Union (EU) in the improvements in Georgia–Turkey cooperation. In particular, it examines how the EU's separate interactions with both Georgia and Turkey, under two different frameworks – accession negotiations and European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), respectively – have contributed to a de facto cooperation between two countries. While studying the cooperation in issue-areas such as energy, trade, taxation, transportation and mobility regimes, this article poses the question: Do the EU's international socialization projects such as the ENP and the enlargement process result in improved bilateral relations among countries participating in these programmes? Building upon a geopolitical interpretation of the ‘variable geometry’ model of European integration, this article argues that, while the EU, as an international agent, has managed to establish multiple spheres of attraction that reach beyond its external borders, these spheres of attraction have also cultivated the emergence of a complex interdependence structure.