Can UK veto Turkey?

wymondham

Following discussions today David Cameron said the UK has a veto on Turkey joining the EU, but the out campaign said it does not - does anyone know which is telling the truth??

leveller2911

Even if they could veto Turkey would they?........

The decision when it comes will be based on purely business reasons and not social reasons.The interests of big business are always put above the interests of the people.

What should happen is every EU country has a referendum so the public make the decision but we all know it won't be the public who decide.

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

wymondham wrote: »

Following discussions today David Cameron said the UK has a veto on Turkey joining the EU, but the out campaign said it does not - does anyone know which is telling the truth??

The UK has a veto.

Accession to the EU for any new country requires the unanimous assent of all 28 existing member states.

wymondham

thanks... I'm keen to know if we can actually veto them, rather than if we'd choose to... (I know Dave wouldn't veto them out of preference as that would upset his master - Merkel)

wymondham

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

The UK has a veto.

Accession to the EU for any new country requires the unanimous assent of all 28 existing member states.

brill, thanks for that!

CLAPTON

my understanding is that any country can veto a new member

however, if it is the intention of any country to veto Turkey, why don't they say so to stop the time being wasted on the protracted negotiations?

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

CLAPTON wrote: »

my understanding is that any country can veto a new member

It can.

And putting aside the UK for a second, there's precisely a snowball's chance in hell of Greece or Cyprus agreeing to Turkish membership anytime soon (ie within decades).

if it is the intention of any country to veto Turkey, why don't they say so to stop the time being wasted on the protracted negotiations?

These things often take so long that the World may be an entirely different place by the time negotiations are concluded, and countries may also view it as being in their best interests to set down criteria for membership, and then watch what happens over the next decade or two.

It cannot be a bad thing for Europe or Turkey if Turkey moderates it's extremists, starts implementing more human rights protections, reaffirms it's commitment to a secular democracy, etc.

So why not wait and see how they get on.

leveller2911

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

It can.

And putting aside the UK for a second, there's precisely a snowball's chance in hell of Greece or Cyprus agreeing to Turkish membership anytime soon (ie within decades).

I don't agree Hamish.

Turkey will see the bigger picture and give up their claim to Cyprus. They will see the advantage of EU membership to their 80 million population over the rights of a 120,000 or so Turkish Cypriots. Once they give up their claim then Greece and Cyprus will be on board with the Great European Experiment.

They will have to comply with EU rules etc which won't be easy for them but the EU may just help their case by easing the rules on membership to accommodate them after all they did similar to allow Greece in or at the very least looked the other way when the Greeks were cooking the books.

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

leveller2911 wrote: »

I don't agree Hamish.

Turkey will see the bigger picture and give up their claim to Cyprus. They will see the advantage of EU membership to their 80 million population over the rights of a few thousand Turkish Cypriots.

Negotiations have been ongoing since 1997.

If it was that easy Turkey would have done so already.

Once they give up their claim then Greece and Cyprus will be on board with the Great European Experiment..

Giving up their claim would only be the start of it.

You've then got hugely complicated and potentially unresolvable issues around compensation, rights of settlers since, rights of return for those who left, property ownership, etc etc etc.

And that between two countries with a deep and long lasting animosity and lack of trust towards each other.

And even after all that, any country in the EU can still veto, just because they don't want Turkish migrants.

The entire "Turkey joining the EU in anything less than decades" scenario is nothing but "Project Fear" being used to try and panic the electorate.

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

leveller2911 wrote: »

Even if they could veto Turkey would they?.........

The decision when it comes will be based on purely business reasons

If you have that little trust in the UK government using it's veto, and make no mistake it absolutely does have veto rights, then what on earth makes you think a UK government outside the EU would not allow mass migration anyway?

You can't have it both ways....

.The interests of big business are always put above the interests of the people.

Except of course that often those interests are aligned.

If you're one of the millions of people who work for big companies, and you understand that a number of those jobs are reliant upon continued EU/Single Market membership, then your interests can be aligned with that of your employer on this topic.

I understand fully that the more successful the company/sector I work for is, and the more opportunities they have to grow and profit, the more secure my job is and the more opportunities I have to progress my career.

That same fact is true for millions of other ordinary working people employed by large companies in the UK.

kabayiri

Taking it step by step, what are the benefits to the UK (and other EU countries) of Turkey joining the EU?

Would they be net contributors when they join?

What do Turkey get out of it?