Formed on June 29, 2011 after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan won a third term in the 2011 general election.

The Minister concurrently served as the chief negotiator during accession talks with the EU.

Previously, European Union negotiations were handled by the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

[2] The ministry has been headed by six ministers in the past, namely Egemen Bağış (2011–2013), Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu (2013–2014), Volkan Bozkır (2014 – August 2015 and again from November 2015 to 2016), Ali Haydar Konca (August–September 2015), Beril Dedeoğlu (September–November 2015) and Ömer Çelik, in office from 24 May 2016 onwards.

The Ministry of European Union Affairs operated the following 16 directorates in 2015:[4] Between 2011 and 2018, six Ministers were responsible for this department.