eurealist.co.uk

John O’Sullivan, writing in the Gulf News suggests that the Problem of Turkey’s membership of the EU was a contributing factor to the French no and it is likely that France will eventually either veto Turkey’s entry or delay it indefinitely. O`Sullivan looks at some of the repercussions this might have and then suggests that a new merged transatlantic trade area might be promoted by the USA to overcome the problems. O`Sullivan accepts that such a plan sounds utopian, but says many of its individual features, have been widely discussed for years.
Snip from the full aticle…
Most European and Turkish politicians are sleepwalking into the crises behind the banner “There is no Plan B” Plan A being Turkey’s EU admission. And Washington echoes the same slogan because it strongly supports the Turkish application.
In reality there is always a Plan B even if the politicians avoid considering it until Plan A has visibly collapsed. Under this particular Plan B, the United States would rescue Turkey and the EU from their joint crises while also advancing US interests in transatlantic integration.
Merge their markets
It would work as follows: First, the EU and the United States (together with its partners in Nafta) would merge their markets to form Tafta or a transatlantic free trade area.
Second, they would invite all the existing European countries not in the EU, including Turkey, Norway and Switzerland, to join this enlarged Tafta.
Third, while this Tafta would establish joint procedures for harmonising existing and new regulations between Nafta, the EU and non-EU states, their main regulatory rule would be mutual recognition of each other’s regulations within a broad Tafta system of jurisdictional competition.
Fourth, free movement of labour would not be a provision in Tafta but there would be preferential immigration rules between members.
Fifth, if groups of nations for instance, France, Germany and Belgium wished to combine in a more tightly-integrated “coalition of the willing” within the overall Tafta framework, they would be free to do so provided that their arrangements did not violate Tafta’s regulatory rules.
And, finally, Tafta members outside Nato would be invited to join the alliance.
Laid out in this way, such a Plan B inevitably sounds utopian. Many of its individual features, however, have been widely discussed for years.
John O’Sullivan,