Can Europe Afford Turkey's Accession? : The costs and economics of Turkey's accession to Europe Union

Diploma Thesis from the year 2005 in the subject Economics / Business: Economic Policy, grade: 1,0, University of Applied Sciences Bremen, 145 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: The debate about the first non-Christian country in the EU is closing in, and the prospect seems to be clear: Turkey will become part of the European Union within the next decades. Slowly, much too late, has the media joined the discussion, and the majority of the European population still has not realized that Europe is about to say yes to its most profound change since World War II. What is more, the debate is an odd one: Those in favour of Turkey's accession use an entirely different set of arguments than those who oppose Turkey as a new member. That makes a rational discussion difficult. One of the problems is the great quantity of approaches one can take when looking at the issue. While the cultural and political dimension of the discussion is a vague one, and common ground is difficult to reach, the economic discussion has been pushed into the background. That is odd, because it is one of the few things we can discuss in a rational way. While many may think of the economic impact of Turkey's accession as a secondary issue, it may well determine the fate of the European Union. We have chosen to write about an issue that, as we believe, has not yet been discussed sufficiently. This work analyzes the economic aspects of the topic and attempts to determine whether Turkey's accession leaves Europe better off or not. This also includes an analysis of issues such as education, demographic trends and institutional stability. Is Turkey economically fit to enter the Union? What will be the immediate and long term economic consequences of accession? Is Europe ready to swallow Turkey? Or is Europe without Turkey destined to disintegrate?