Despite these challenges and critiques of EU’s civil society policy, financial assistance has been an important tool for the capacity-building and development of civil society organizations. Turkey has been receiving pre-accession assistance since 2001 under the Turkish Financial Instrument however prior to 2001, the level of financial assistance was much lower and consisted only of some programs related to the European Neighborhood Policy. In 2001, the European Commission prepared a single heading under which all financial assistance provided to Turkey including MEDA and Customs Union regulations, were presented. A further adjustment to the Turkish Financial Instrument was adopted causing a progressive increase in the level of financial assistance.
After the accession negotiations between Turkey and the EU began in 2004, the Commission highlighted the importance of the role attributed to the civil society in order to ensure the development of a dialogue between different actors in Turkey and the EU.134 Moreover, the Commission pointed to the important role of such a dialogue for experience sharing, lesson learning and fostering the involvement of a multiplicity of actors on debates related to social
134 European Commission. 2004. “Recommendation of the European Commission on Turkey’s progress towards accession.” Brussels: European Commission. COM (2004) – 656.
and political issues in Turkey.135 Within the civil society dialogue framework, the EU defines the civil society as consisting of “the labour-market actors, i.e. the social partners (trade unions and employers federations); organizations representing social and economic players at large (consumer organizations for instance,); non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and community-based organizations, i.e. organizations at grassroots level through which citizens participate in local and municipal life (e.g. youth or family associations); religious communities and media”136.
The European Commission identifies civil society as a key stakeholder within the accession process even though civil society actors do not participate directly in the accession negotiations. In this context, the main role attributed to civil society organizations is the representation of various interest groups in order to facilitate involvement in the decision-making processes. In this sense, the engagement of civil society is of paramount importance to the EU and there are a number of EU instruments designed for the civil society in Turkey ranging from individual grants to funding programs, from community programs to IPA assistance and the civil society dialogue framework disseminated by the European Commission in Brussels, the European Commission Delegation in Ankara or various national institutions in Turkey.
Until 1999, the scope of financial assistance to Turkey was based on the objective of assisting and enhancing structural adjustment under the MEDA program, as in the case of other Mediterranean partners of the program.137 Given this, until 2002 the financial assistance to
135 European Commission. 2005. “Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of Regions, Civil Society Dialogue between the EU and Candidate Countries.” Brussels: European Commission, 29 June 2005, COM (2005) 290.
136 Ibid.
137 Central Finance and Contracts Unit (CFCU). “EU-Turkey Financial Cooperation.” Downloaded from http://www.cfcu.gov.tr/program.php, on 21.11.2012.
Turkey was mainly comprised of the MEDA program and two regulations governing the financial aid provided as part of the Customs Union as well as economic and social development.138 In 2001, the Council’s regulation on pre-accession financial assistance for Turkey underlined the Commission’s aim to start a pre-accession financial assistance program for Turkey identifying €177 million assistance on average per year.139 In addition to this, the Commission Strategy Paper published in 2002 predicted a gradual increase in the level of financial assistance.140 Between 2004 and 2006, the priority areas for pre-accession financial assistance to Turkey were set as institution building, which includes twinning programs as well as financial aid allocated to the NGOs for “the consolidation and further development of democratic practices, the rule of law, human rights, equality for women and men and the protection of minorities”141. The second priority area was determined as investment, which aimed to launch or to enhance the governing structures necessary for the adoption of the acquis requirements and investment that will eliminate regional gaps between the regions and the disparity between Turkey’s national income and the EU average by fostering economic and social cohesion.142
138 Delegation of the European Union to Turkey. “What is EU funding for?” Downloaded on 21.11.2012 from http://www.avrupa.info.tr/eu-funding-in-turkey/which-are-the-priorities/what-is-eu-funding-for.html.
139 Economic Development Foundation (IKV). “Turkey-EU Financial Cooperation.” Downloaded on 21.11.2012 from http://www.ikv.org.tr/icerik_en.asp?konu=maliisbirligi&baslik=Financial%20Co-operation.
140 Ibid.
141 Central Finance and Contracts Unit (CFCU). “EU-Turkey Financial Cooperation.” Downloaded from http://www.cfcu.gov.tr/program.php, on 21.11.2012.
142 Ibid.
Figure 1. Pre-accession Financial Assistance to Turkey (2004-2006)143
As of 2007, the pre-accession Financial Instrument for Turkey has been replaced with the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) as in the case of other candidate and potential candidate countries. The importance of the IPA program is related to the changes in the extent of financial assistance and the new issue areas included within the scope of the program. In this context, the European Commission identifies IPA’s aim as to “be a bridge between external assistance and internal policies”.144 IPA objectives for Turkey include providing Turkey with assistance to implement the necessary reforms for accession and assisting Turkey with the administration of structural assistance.145 The IPA program provided over 2 billion Euros of financial support to Turkey between 2007-2010.146
143 Ibid.
144 European Council. 2006. “Council Regulation (EC) No 1085/2006 of 17 July 2006 establishing an Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA)”.
145 European Commission. IPA Regional Development Programs in Turkey, “Instrument for Pre-Accession
Assistance (IPA)” downloaded from on 21.11.2012.
http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/thefunds/ipa/turkey_development_en.cfm.
146 Delegation of the European Union to Turkey. “What is EU funding for?” Downloaded on 21.11.2012 from http://www.avrupa.info.tr/eu-funding-in-turkey/which-are-the-priorities/what-is-eu-funding-for.html.
0 500 1000 1500
2004 2005 2006 Total
250 300 500
1050