The objective of this article is to contribute to the ongoing discussion about the potential enlargement of the European Union (EU) 1. Ten countries with economies in transition, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Poland and Slovenia (the 'Luxembourg group'), Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania,...

The issue of Turkish aspirations for full membership in the EU is a highly polarising, sensitive and controversial matter both politically and economically. An obvious peril for Turkey is regarding EU membership as a panacea for all its domestic ills. One has to recall, on the one hand, that...