Abstract:

European Union adopted the Maastricht criteria to ensure fiscal discipline and sustainable economic growth in 1993. The Maastricht criteria is not a requirement for membership to the European Union, but it is necessity for monetary discipline. However, the global economic crisis began after 2007 deeply affected both the European Union member states and candidate countries. The European Union has set the year 2016 as a deadline till which member countries will meet the Maastricht criteria, because the effect of the global crisis in 2009 has significantly increased their public deficits and debt ratio. Therefore, the European Union has taken several measures to restore deteriorating fiscal balance in the post-global crisis and to avoid the recurrence of similar cases. Turkey is also concerned with this application of the European Union because of the continuing negotiation process. This study analyzes the state of preparation of Turkey and other candidate countries.

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