Approximation process to the EU Environment acquis in Turkey

Turkey signed the Association Aggrement on 01.12.1964 and applied for membership on 14.04.1987. Turkey received the candidate status by 12.12.1999 and negotiations started on 03.10.2005.

Currently 14 out of 33 acquis chapters are open.  One chapter (Chapter 25 Science and Research) is closed. Environment Chapter was opened on 21.12.2009 during the Intergovernmental Conference in Brussels. 

There are six closing criteria determined for the Environment Chapter, consisting of one political and five technical criteria.

  1. Turkey fulfills the obligations arising from the Additional Protocol of EU Association Agreement (political criterion),
  2. Turkey, adopts horizontal and framework legislation to harmonize environmental legislation of EU including cross-border elements,
  3. Legislation in order to align with the acquis on water quality in Turkey, especially the Framework Law on Water Protection is adopted, River Basin Protection Action Plans are created, significant developments in the field of regulatory compliance by adopting implementing legislation,
  4. Adopted legislation in alignment with the acquis in the fields of industrial pollution control and risk management in Turkeyurkey, for other sectors in this chapter, including waste management and nature protection, continues the legislation approximation in accordance with the “National, Regional and Local Level Required Financial Resources for the Implementation of Administrative Capacity Building Plan and the Environmental Acquis” and shows readiness for the adoption and implementation of the EU requirements on the day of accession,
  5. Turkey, including audit services, continues to improve the capacity of administrative units at all levels under the framework of the Financial Resources Required for the National, Regional and Local Level Administrative Capacity and the Implementation of Environmental Acquis, continues to improve the coordination of enforcement and implementation of the acquis in this chapter and ensure that the administrative capacity is there before the accession date.