The European Commission has launched in March an online public consultation with the aim of collecting information and views from all stakeholders on the revision of Turley-EU Customs.

With the problems encountered in the current way of the functioning of Turkey-EU Customs and the global changes in the economic and trade relations, the need to revise the Customs Union has arisen. In this context, European Commissioner in charge of Trade Cecilia Malström and the then Turkish Minister of Economy announced their decision to upgrade the Turkey-EU Customs Union.

Both parties are currently conducting impact assessments which are foreseen to be finalized in July 2016. Following the outcomes of these impacts assessment reports, the mandate needs to be obtained from the relevant authorities in order to launch the negotiation process.

Within the framework of the preparation of Impact Assessment on the revision of the Turkey-EU Customs Union, the Commission launched on 24 March 2016 an online public consultation with the aim of collecting information and views from all stakeholders and better understanding their expectations regarding future trade and economic relations between Turkey and the EU. The results of this consultation will be included and assessed in the Impact Assessment. Furthermore, within the principle of transparency in the negotiation process, the report of the consultation will be published which will also be available on the Commission’s website.

Through this public consultation, the Commission asks the participants not only to assess the current trade and economic relations between Turkey and the EU but also to tell which topics should be covered within the revised version of the Customs Union. The consultation also covers questions on various trade related topics such as customs procedures and trade facilitation, tariffs, rules of origin, non-tariff measures, trade in services, investment, intellectual property rights and geographical indications, public procurement, competition policy and sustainable developments. The survey also directs a few specific questions related to SMEs and consumers. The Commission wants to measure the impact of the reduction of barriers to trade between Turkey and the EU on consumers. The Commission also tries to assess which topics should be further developed in Turkey-EU trade and economic relations within the perspective of the SMEs.

It is noteworthy to underline that this online public consultation is not only address to stakeholders of the 28 EU Member States but also to Turkey, EFTA countries, the USA and Canada and other third countries. This online public consultation which will be opened until 9 June 2016 present a great opportunity for the Turkish business community to raise their concerns regarding the scope and the way of functioning of the Turkey-EU Customs Union.

You can access the survey here.