Luxembourg, 20/09/2005 (Agence Europe) - An Istanbul-based SME, the company Yedas Tarim ve Otomotiv Sanayi ve Ticaret AS, a specialist in such products as ball bearings for vehicles, has called upon the European Court of First Instance to oblige the Commission and the Council to pay a financial compensation for the damage it feels it has suffered. The Turkish company feels that the European Union has not fulfilled all its obligations under the EEC-Turkey Customs Union and Association Agreement. The hearing of the parties has just taken place and the Court must now deliberate and returned its verdict in the next few months.
The company Yedas states that the sum total of loans and financial contributions provided for in order to offset the negative effects of the Customs Union on the Turkish economy is not enough. This aid was inadequate, it feels, particularly as it was not the same as that earmarked for the other candidate countries to EU accession. It blames this on what it believes was a Greek veto, for which it holds the EU responsible. Yedas states that once Turkey joined the Customs Union, the Turkish market for ball bearings was swamped by high-quality products from the Member State, and products it described as bottom-of-the-range, which were produced in far Eastern countries
The Commission and the Council, for their part, questioned whether the recourse brought by the Turkish company was receivable, and its arguments were challenged point by point by Yedas.
The definitive phase of the Customs union was set up by decision of the EEC-Turkey Association Council of 22 December 1995, whereas the agreement creating an association between the European Economic Community and Turkey dates back to 1964.