Turkish Accession to the EU: the “Piranha’s” Threat and the German “Ghost”
us of the German question: whether we would have a European Germany or a German Europe (Ifestos 1999, pp. 203-204, Spanger 1992, pp.67-78). Paraphrasing the German question, one may put the Turkish accession to the EU in this way: will we have a European Turkey or a Turkish Europe? This article evaluates the Turkish accession to the EU in relation to conflicting and converging national interests, “power games” and cultural diversities, taking also into consideration the EU political integration and cohesion (Morgenthau 1978, pp. 4, 9-14). Turkish accession to the EU constitutes an issue dominating European Affairs and a relevant question, concerning the European future, is generated: will the structural changes, which may result from the Turkish accession to the EU, threaten EU cohesion or not? In this respect, a pertinent question must be set: what is EU cohesion?
2. EU cohesion If we attempt to give a definition to EU cohesion, we have to distinguish between ‘cohesion policy’ (Charalambides 2010, pp. 29-32, Eur. Activ. com 2004) and the ‘cohesion of the EU’. Cohesion policy is an integral part of EU cohesion. In this respect, EU cohesion does not depend only on the cohesion policy of the EU, and on its objectives (i.e. economic, social, political and territorial cohesion). It also depends on theories of Realism, Structural Realism, Functionalism and Neo-Functionalism. These theories set forth and analyze the structure of the international system, its stability, its cohesion and its decline. The EU constitutes a subsystem of the wider international system and some of the factors, which affect the international system’s stability, cohesion and decline, can be classified as follows: a) common interests, b) conflicting national interests, c) redistribution of power, d) share of power, e) threats to existing balances of power, f) the upsetting of the balance of power g) structural changes, h) culture, i) military power, j) social factors, k) economy and l) governance and Institutions (Charalambides 2010, pp. 33-34).
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YIANNOS CHARALAMBIDES