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Hungarian steps toward European Union membership

Sustainable Institutions for European Union Membership [electronic resource]

Countries that are candidates for European Union (EU) accession face the complex and urgent task of building administrative institutions so that they can fulfil the “Copenhagen criteria”. Such institutions must be able to implement the acquis communautaire within tight budget constraints and ensure favourable conditions for a competitive private sector. They must also provide candidate countries with the institutional capacity to participate effectively in future policy-making within the European Union upon accession. This paper lays out basic principles, tools and issues for building institutions. The target audience includes all those involved in Institution Building within candidate countries, EU Member States, the European Commission and the aid community. The paper highlights the issues associated with building effective institutions while providing concrete examples of how Member States and candidate countries have responded to such challenges. The definition of a number of key terms (in bold type) are provided in the Annex together with links to additional sources of information (SIGMA and PUMA publications as well as relevant web sites).

Online OECD iLibrary

Turkey's road to European Union membership : national identity and political change

Enlargement to Turkey is arguably the greatest challenge facing the European Union today. After the narrowly averted "train crash" over Cyprus in 2006, the second election victory of the Justice and Development Party in July 2007 opened new prospects for Turkish-EU relations. But in an EU emphasising a collective identity based on shared civilisational values, Turkey's European credentials have been increasingly called into question. Amending national identity through political change has become the key to the success or failure of the Turkish integration project.This volume examines the EU role in strengthening the domestic pro-reform coalition within Turkey, the paradox - and potential limits - of Turkey's Europeanising Islamists, and the impact of Europeanisation through conditionality, including a case study of Turkish policy towards the Cyprus Question. Also addressed are the Western stereotypes of Turkish identity influencing the country's EU prospects, notably concerning the role of Islam in precipitating acts of political violence and its association with sexual and political violence in the discourse of European opponents of Turkish accession. Finally, the dynamics of EU accession negotiations are analysed and the potential role of a norm-driven rhetorical strategy in promoting Turkish accession as a moral and democratic imperative is discussed.

Revolutionary Concepts: From “Self-Management” to “Sovereignty” in the Soviet Union (1987-1990)