TOBB EU Harmonisation Commission meeting was held in Ankara on the 20^th March 2015 with the participation of Vice President of TOBB Board of Directors Ali Kopuz. Deputy Undersecretary of the Ministry for EU Affairs Dr. Burak Erdenir, Former Ambassador Bozkurt Aran and IKV Deputy Secretary-General and Research Director Melih Özsöz made presentations respectively on the latest developments on Turkey-EU relations to the members of the Commission.

Along with the latest developments on Turkey-EU relations, the ongoing TTIP negotiations between EU and the US and the Readmission Agreement were also among the main topics discussed in the meeting.

In his opening speech, Vice President of TOBB Board of Directors Ali Kopuz gave detailed information on Turkey’s EU accession process. He drew the attention to the importance of having a well-established stabilised and institutionalised democracy that guarantees the principle of rule of law, the protection of fundamental rights and freedoms as well as a functioning market economy and the capacity to cope with competitive pressure and market forces within the Union. He also underlined the importance of a strong public bureaucracy that has the capacity to implement the legislation. Kopuz further stressed that the business community is continuing to support strongly Turkey’s EU accession process.

Chairman of TOBB EU Harmonisation Commission and Bafra TSO Chairman Göksel Başer explained that these EU Harmonisation Commission meetings are being organized to create a platform where Turkey-EU relations and areas that are directly related to these relations could be discussed. Within this framework, the latest developments on Turkey-EU relations, TTIP negotiations between the EU and the US, the Readmission Agreement and the Visa Liberalisation Dialogue were the mains topics to be discussed during these meetings.