IKV organized in cooperation with Eskişehir Chamber of Industry a panel entitled "Latest Agenda of Turkey-EU Relations" on 25 November 2015 in Eskişehir.

ESO Chairman Savaş Özaydemir delivered the opening speech of the panel. In his speech, he assessed Turkey’s EU accession negotiation process and the current situation in the light of the recent Progress Report published by the European Commission. He drew attention to the strong criticism regarding rule of law and fundamental rights. Despite the general critical approach adopted in the report, ESO Chairman Özaydemir confirmed that the Commission has drawn the current picture in terms of progress achieved by Turkey.  He stressed that democracy and judicial reform should be handled with care. He also emphasized that Turkey should accelerate its structural reforms.

In his opening speech, IKV Chairman Ayhan Zeytinoğlu stressed that Turkey-EU relations were passing through an important turning point.  He explained that before the publication of the Progress Report by the European Commission on 10 November 2015, Turkey-EU relations gained a momentum with the refugee crisis. By organizing a press conference upon the release of the Progress Report, IKV’s point of view and assessments have been shared with the public. In this regard, pointing out to the important changes brought with these new generation of progress reports, he remarked that the Commission presents a roadmap with a set of measures to be taken by the candidate countries to achieve further alignment to the EU acquis.

IKV Chairman Zeytinoğlu pointed out that there were many criticism directed towards Turkey in regards to the political criteria.  In the Progress Report, a special emphasis was put on the slow pace of political reforms. Therefore, IKV Chairman Zeytinoğlu stressed that it is of utmost importance for the new government to reinvigorate Turkey’s EU access process by taking into account the roadmap presented by the new progress report.

Referring also to the modernization process of the Customs Union, IKV Chairman Zeytinoğlu underlined the importance for the full and active participation of the business committee.  He also ensured that the modernization of the Customs Union will have a facilitator effect on Turkey’s inclusion to the TTIP process.  Lastly, speaking about the unfair visa practices towards Turkish businessmen, IKV Chairman Zeytinoğlu referred to a study conducted by IKV which reveals that the costs for Turkey in terms of application to the Schengen visa amount to approximately 49 million Euros over the last year and to around 250 million euros over the last 6 years.

After the opening speeches, the first speaker of the panel, IKV Secretary-General Assoc. Prof. Çigdem Nas gave information on steps and current situation of Turkey-EU negotiation process and the challenges in Turkey-EU relations. She also touched upon the expectations with EU membership and over the upcoming period. IKV Secretary-General Nas indicated also the milestones of this process which started with the signature of the Association Agreement between Turkey and the EU. She also drew the attention to the slow pace of the negotiation process by pointing out that so far only 14 chapters have been opened and one closed temporarily. IKV Secretary-General Nas also added that the Chapters which could be opened to negotiations are “Social Policy and Employment”, “Competition” and “Public Procurement” whereas the Chapters which are suggested to be opened are “Economic and Monetary Policy”, “Judiciary and Fundamental Rights”, “Justice, Freedom and Security” and “Energy”. IKV Secretary-General Nas also gave detailed information on the negotiation process from the technical point of view. She also stated that candidate countries have to fulfil some political and economic criteria in order to become EU members. In this respect, IKV Secretary-General Nas highlighted the importance to have a strong political will from the government and civil society of EU Member States and candidate countries. Lastly, she stated that the signature of the Readmission Agreement and the decision to modernize the Customs Union gave impetus to Turkey-EU relations.

IKV Deputy Secretary-General and Research Director Melih Özsöz gave a presentation which covered the ongoing negotiations between Turkey and the EU on migration, the new generation progress reports, Turkey 2015 Progress report and revealed the outcomes of the studies conducted by IKV in regards to the Progress Reports. He also gave information on the changes brought with this new format of Progress Reports. According to a study prepared by IKV, Turkey’s level of alignment has reached 61.2% while these ratios are 70.8% for Macedonia, 57% for Serbia, 55.8% for Montenegro and 45.6% for Albania respectively.

Regarding the refugee crisis, IKV Deputy Secretary-General and Research Director Özsöz explained that the EU’s expectations from Turkey are as follows: to prevent refugees to enter the EU through Turkey, to keep the current and new arriving refugees within Turkish borders and with the entry into force of the Readmission Agreement, to return to Turkey the refugees who illegally enter to the EU through Turkey. In return, the EU is offering to present Turkey a financial aid amounting to 3 billion euros, to open new chapters to negotiations and to accelerate the visa liberalisation process.

IKV Brussels Representative Haluk Nuray gave a presentation entitled “TTIP and FTAs within the discussion of the revision of the Customs Union”. He explained that current trade and investment relations between Turkey and the EU are not well-exploited which is why there is a need to revise the framework and the scope of the Customs Union.

In his presentation, IKV Brussels Representative Nuray also informed participants about the changes occurring in the world trading system. In this respect, he gave a special emphasis on Asia which is becoming an important market for consumers and centre of production. He also drew the attention to the rise of the new generation of free trade agreement. He also referred to TTIP and TPP as important regional trade agreements. With the changes in the production structure and trade, IKV Brussels Representative Nuray also made allusion to the importance gained by the global value chains.

In this changing context, IKV Brussels Representative Nuray emphasized the need for Turkey to raise the sophistication level of the products exported, to improve the business environment and to reduce protectionist measures. In this respect, the modernization of the Customs Union and the participation of Turkey in the TTIP process are of great importance for Turkey.

The last speaker of the panel, IKV Project Director Çisel Ileri gave a presentation on EU funds and financial assistance to Turkey. She shared detailed information about IPA funds within the context of the financial assistance and indicated that Turkey will benefit from an assistance amounting to 4.454 million euros for the period covering 2014-2020.

Furthermore, IKV Project Director Ileri also explained that Turkey could benefit from an important financial resource by participating to EU Programs. By submitting project proposals to these Programmes, Turkish businesses, SMEs, NGOs, students, entrepreneurs and other related groups can benefit from a financial pool amounting to a total of 100 billion euros. As it is known, Turkey has joined Horizon 2020, CREATIVE EUROPE, COSME, EaSI, Erasmus+, Customs 2020 and Fiscalis 2020. These programs aim at promoting and enhancing cooperation as well as sharing information, experiences and best practices and developing cooperation.