Turkey should look to U.K. model in EU relations - German CDU leadership hopeful

There is no prospect for Turkey’s EU membership and the two sides should instead focus on an expanded free trade agreement, Friedrich Merz, a candidate for leader of Germany’s centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), said on Monday.

Metz told Deutsche Welle Turkish that the two sides could use the EU- U.K agreement after the latter’s exit from the bloc as a precedent.

Having an expanded European region that includes a country like Turkey would "make sense,’’ Merz said, pointing specifically to the country’s participation in the EU internal market without acquiring full EU membership rights.

Merz is a candidate to replace German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is standing down after 18 years as leader of Germany'scentre-right CDU.

Turkey has been an official EU candidate country since 1999 and has maintained a customs union deal with the bloc since January 1996. Accession negotiations formally began in October 2005, but have stalled in the last few years due to what is being called Turkey’s failure to comply with required criteria pertaining to the EU candidacy.

Turkey does not have a EU prospect, even in the long run, Merz said, noting that the country, along with Russia, should consider relations that rank below full membership.

Almost a year after the U.K.’s exit from the EU at the end of Jan. 2020, the two sides signed a trade deal that came into effect from Jan.1. The deal does away with the introduction of any tariffs or quotas.