Turkey as a candidate country for full membership in the European Union: A comparison with Maastricht criteria

In this study, it is shown that most of the countries that joined the European Union (EU) in 2004 fail to qualify for economic integration with the EU because they do not meet the Maastricht criteria. This suggests that the decision by the EU welcoming these countries as full members reflects a political bias rather than an economic reality. However, the importance of Maastricht criteria must not be neglected in the future negotiation process. The logit sensitivity analysis results in this study reveal that the public deficit and inflation rates ought to be reduced to around 4% in order for Turkey to be ready for economic integration. Once these rates are realized, Turkey would be in a stronger economic position in the negotiation process with the EU, which may help reduce the duration process towards full membership.