Brussels, 12/05/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 12 May, the European Commission and the Turkish authorities spoke of their resolve to boost trade between the European Union and Turkey by modernising and enlarging the customs union between these two partners.
“We have set the ball in motion in several areas, enhancing and deepening trade relations in services, public procurement and agricultural products”, said European Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström. And “even more importantly, we have set the ball in motion to upgrade our customs union, to improve its structure and functioning” and to take account of new realities, such as the recent enlargements of the EU and the free trade agreements concluded with other trade partners in the world, she added. In Mogherini's view, such a modernisation will enable Turkey and the EU to address obstacles more effectively.
Turkey is the EU's sixth biggest trading partner, while the EU is Turkey's first trading partner. Currently, the customs union between the EU and Turkey (which dates back 20 years) covers “mainly agricultural products and some industrial products”, Malmström said. Stating that this customs union was considered as a step before Turkey's full accession to the EU, the Turkish economy minister, Nihat Zybekci, called for “all services, all public procurement and all agricultural products” to be covered. “That's our goal, if we want to be members of the EU”, he said.
A period of around one year is now opening, according to Zybekci, during which each party will carry out its impact assessments and will try to equip itself with mandates for negotiating the modernisation of the customs union.
Ankara has its eye on TTIP. As a member of a customs union with the EU, Turkey is also trying to obtain a right to scrutinise the trade negotiations that the EU is conducting with third countries, including the TTIP negotiations with the USA. Not taking part in the decision-making process is a problem and not taking part in the free trade agreements that the EU is signing with other third countries is a problem, Zybekci states. “Turkey's goal is to be integrated in the TTIP process”, he even said. Malmström has recognised the importance of keeping Turkey informed at all stages of the trade negotiations between the EU and the USA, while stating that these negotiations are being held just between these two partners. She added that when an agreement has been reached on modernising the customs union, then they will look at the “modalities” of integrating the Turkish authorities more in the negotiations on free trade agreements with third countries. (Mathieu Bion)