Türkiye’s high commerce official is due on Tuesday to fly to Brussels for a variety of talks, which come amid heightened tensions which have even seen the Turkish chief lately implying his nation might finish its EU membership bid.
Türkiye has been an official candidate to hitch the European Union for twenty-four years, however accession talks have stalled in recent times over quite a lot of disagreements and political roadblocks. Türkiye suggests it has fulfilled a lot of the standards for the membership.
Though the accession course of stalled, Türkiye has remained a key financial and protection companion for the 27-member bloc.
Trade Minister Ömer Bolat will deal with Türkiye-EU bilateral commerce and financial cooperation and discover alternatives to deepen relations, mentioned an announcement by the ministry on Monday.
Bolat will meet European Commission Executive Vice President and EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis, EU Enlargement Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi, and Paolo Gentiloni, the EU commissioner chargeable for customs.
Both sides had earlier this 12 months expressed curiosity in reengaging in dialogue to revive relations strained over a number of points, together with the extended strategy of enlargement of the scope of the present customs union settlement, EU insurance policies on refugees from Syria, and tensions over the island of Cyprus and the Eastern Mediterranean.
Ankara final month affirmed its resolve to hitch the EU and urged the bloc to take brave steps to advance its bid.
But a scathing report by the European Parliament, seemingly opposing a full membership, triggered harsh criticism from Ankara. The report mentioned, “the accession process cannot resume under the current circumstances, and calls on EU to explore ‘a parallel and realistic framework’ for EU-Türkiye relations.”
Addressing the report, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan mentioned Türkiye might half methods with the EU, implying that the nation is considering ending its bid to hitch the 27-nation bloc.
“The EU is trying to break away from Türkiye,” Erdoğan mentioned. “We will make our evaluations against these developments and if necessary, we can part ways with the EU.”
The customs union replace and visa liberalization have been among the foremost roadblocks which have pissed off Ankara.
The EU-Türkiye Customs Union got here into power in 1995 however is proscribed to industrial items and processed agricultural merchandise. Bilateral commerce hit a document excessive of almost $200 billion in 2022, in accordance with Trade Ministry knowledge.
Türkiye is the one non-EU nation with a customs union settlement with the bloc. The European Commission, the EU’s govt arm, has lengthy pushed for revamping the deal however didn’t register any progress.
A deeper commerce settlement could be expanded to companies, farm items and public procurement.
Bolat is anticipated to make a speech on the European Policy Center on the significance of Türkiye-EU financial relations, updating the customs union, and strengthening cooperation on the axis of inexperienced and digital transformation in international worth chains, the ministry mentioned.
On the opposite hand, he’s additionally scheduled to satisfy with representatives of the Turkish business world.
Source: www.dailysabah.com