"EU Integration and Turkish SME EU Enlargement and the Wider Neighbourhood Turkey and the European Union The European Commission’s October 2005 invitation to begin formal accession negotiations marks a milestone in Turkey’s relationship with the EU. Turkey’s first formal application for membership in the EU (then the European Economic Community) dates back to July 1959, when the EEC offered a roadmap to a customs union, as a prelude to Turkey’s eventual membership. This roadmap was formalized by the 1963 Ankara Agreement and its supplemental protocol of 1970, which led to the establishment of the customs union in 1995. The Customs Union between Turkey and the EU was a unique experience in that Turkey was the first (and the only country until 2002) that entered into such integration without being a member of the Union. Moreover, Turkey’s agreement with the EU goes well beyond the classical definition of a customs union1: Turkey has pledged to harmonize its commercial and competition policies (including intellectual property laws) with those of the EU, as well as extend most of the EU’s trade and competition rules to the Turkish economy."
More:Democracy and Transition: EU Integration and Turkish SME
