We Have the Stars, Let's Add the Moon: Turkey, the EU, and the Constitutional Values of Free Citizens

Abstract

This paper addresses the Union's constitutional values through a discussion of competing approaches to be found in the EU to the question of Turkey's accession. Noting that both supporters and opponents of Turkish membership base their views on the alleged compatibility or incompatibility of what are presumed to be EU values and Turkish values, it draws on recent work in political philosophy to explore what roles different kinds of values should play in the polity's constitution and operation. Here, the central proposition of 'neutralist' theories is that though the polity must uphold human rights, it should remain neutral between more substantive cultural and ethical values, while 'perfectionist' theories hold that the polity should actively promote ethical values; of the latter, communitarian versions of perfectionism claim that such values define and characterise political and cultural communities. Each position, neutralist and perfectionist, implies different grounds from which to evaluate the compatibility of Turkish values with EU values, but more importantly perhaps each position also implies a choice between different sorts of constitutional values for the EU itself.