IKV organized a brainstorming meeting in cooperation with SAM (Center for Strategic Research) at the European Parliament on the 9^th December in Brussels. The opening remarks of the roundtable meeting were made by the Dutch liberal MEP Marietje Schaake and SAM Director Prof. Dr. Ali Resul Usul. Under the moderation of Prof. Dr. Resul, the issue of “communication, trust and credibility in Turkey-EU Relations” was discussed as the key agenda of the meeting. Representatives of the IKV Board of Directors, TOBB Brussels Representative Office and other business associations in Brussels attended this meeting.

During the meeting, participants drew attention to the remaining obstacles within the framework of the negotiations process such as Customs Union, visa liberalization, Cyprus issue, Turkey’s inclusion to the ongoing TTIP negotiations and the opening of chapters which are blocked. Taking into account the changes within the EU institutions, the need for further efforts to create a new momentum in Turkey’s EU accession process was emphasized. Participants underlined the positive effect the visa liberalization dialogue can play to restore trust in bilateral relations and they explored ways to address the issue of mistrust and lack of credibility in Turkey-EU relations.

On the 10^th December 2014, IKV held a series of meetings with the European Commission and the European External Action Service officials in Brussels. The meetings were organized in the framework of IKV’s “Window to EU” meeting series. IKV delegation was led by IKV Chairman Ömer Cihad Vardan and comprised of the representatives of the IKV Board of Directors, TOBB, other business associations, academia and civil society.

IKV delegation was informed about the current state of play in Turkey’s accession negotiations, the latest trends in Turkey-EU foreign policy cooperation as well as the recent developments regarding the visa liberalization process initiated in December 2013. During the meetings IKV delegation held a productive exchange views with EU officials on various significant issues in Turkey’s EU accession agenda. The need to find an acceptable solution to the Cyprus issue, the recent debate regarding the need to upgrade the Turkey-EU Customs Union and to find a way to address Turkey’s concerns regarding the EU’s free trade agreements were among the main issues which were highlighted during the meetings.