Different Trajectories yet the Same Substance: Croatia and Turkey

Croatia and Turkey began European Union (EU) accession negotiations on the same date, 3 October 2005. The opening of negotiations with Croatia was a classic case of trade-off bargaining between member states. Austria laid down Croatia’s start of negotiations as a condition for the opening of negotiations with Turkey. Turkey has long been in the queue for accession, since it first signed the Agreement of Association, known as the Ankara Agreement, on 12 September 1963, which sought to integrate the country into a customs union with the European Economic Community (EEC) while acknowledging the ultimate goal of membership (EEC-Turkey 1963). Croatia was the second country to sign a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with the EU in 2001. Following Croatia’s application for EU membership in February 2003, the European Council of December 2004 decided that accession negotiations would be opened. After an initial period of crisis in the negotiations, Croatia’s accession finally took place in July 2013.