Justifying privileged partnership with Turkey: an analysis of debates in the European Parliament

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis paper seeks to uncover what drives European Parliament (EP) discussions on a privileged partnership for Turkey. In line with Habermas’s Communicative Action Theory, it scrutinizes the justifications used by the Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) in the Plenary Sessions between 2005–2012, i.e. from the start of accession negotiations until the privileged partnership’s falling into disuse in EP discussions. The research reveals that the alleged benefits of privileged partnership in contrast to the costs of Turkey’s full membership constitute the backbone of the right-wing groups’ arguments whereas the objection to a privileged partnership is justified by MEPs from left-wing groups for being against the EU’s official commitments to Turkey. In disputing Turkey’s full membership, the members of the right-wing parties reconstruct a European identity in which Turkey is the constitutive other.