Tocci told Radio Sputnik that the accession process remains incredibly important for both parties, and that it is the EU's most important tool in order to stimulate transformation in terms of politics, economy and society within Turkey. However, she doesn't believe that the required consensus of all member states is possible at the moment.
"It's quite clear that at this point in time it is difficult to imagine that the 28 member states would accept Turkey's membership," she said.
Tocci named several reasons, explaining Europe's skepticism toward Turkey's membership. The first set of factors coming into play would be those having little to do with Turkey itself, including identity, culture, religion, she explained.
"It's clear that the whole debate about Europe and the EU has become a lot more focused on cultural and religious aspects, than it was ten or twenty years ago." She furthered. "The whole, if you like, Christianity versus Islam debate is something to unfortunately resonate amongst segments of a topic."
Another obvious reason would be the economy. According to Tocci, the EU, which also has undergone a deep financial crisis, is not very willing to accept a member poorer than most EU member states.
Tocci also mentioned Turkey's politics and its inability to bide by the EU's norms and values as a key factor. In order to move forward, Turkey would have to do something about human rights issues.
"It's clear that European skepticism toward Turkey has many causes, but one set of causes has to do with the general perception amongst both policy makers and the public that political reforms in Turkey have been moving backwards over the last years: increasing centralization of power, increasing violations of freedom of expression, the re-igniting of the Kurdish question," Tocci said.
As for Turkey, she believes that if there were a real possibility of membership, the majority would be in favor of joining the Union.
"Negative attitudes in Turkey towards the European Union have largely been the product of offence," Tocci explained, "'The EU doesn't want us, and therefore we don't want them'".
Even if Turkey did become a member, it would still be in question what aspects of the EU and what policy areas it would join.
"I can't imagine Turkey, for instance, ever becoming a member of the Eurozone," Tocci said.
The feasibility of the deal came under question after Brussels criticized Turkey's recent anti-terrorism law, which critics say will be used to silence President Erdogan's critics and opposition.
