The Working Party on Enlargement and Countries Negotiation Accession to the EU (COELA) was organised in Istanbul on 4-7 October 2016 within the framework of a visit to Turkey. Representatives of the business world in Istanbul attended the meeting and Turkey-EU relations along with the state of the Turkish economy were discussed among the participants.

Along with IKV, representatives from TÜSİAD, DEİK, TİM and MÜSİAD presented their respective organisations, revealed information with respect to Turkey’s EU accession process and also referred to the latest developments in the Turkish economy. IKV Board of Directors Vice-Chair Prof. Haluk Kabaalioğlu represented IKV at the meeting where he made a speech and responded to the questions of the members of COELA with respect to Turkey-EU relations. In his speech, Prof. Kabaalioğlu touched upon the importance of EU membership for Turkey and highlighted that Turkey could provide an important contribution to the dynamism of the EU as a rapidly developing and changing country. Moreover, Kabaalioğlu indicated that the difficulties that are a result of the Schengen visa requirements remained one of the most important reasons for a possible erosion of the EU’s image in Turkey. Kabaalioğlu also referred to the effects of the Customs Union upon both Turkey and the EU. In that respect, he stressed that the visa requirements upon Turkey within the framework of the Customs Union pose extra difficulties in regards of business relations and also indicated that the fact that Turkey’s position is not taken into consideration in the context of the free trade agreements signed by the EU poses an issue for a better and effective running of the Customs Union. Nonetheless, Kabaalioğlu also added that, regardless of all difficulties, the Customs Union remains critical in the opening of the Turkish industry to international markets along with the enhancement of its competitive power. He underscored the necessity for the Customs Union to be revised and modernised. Furthermore, Kabaalioğlu also indicated that Turkey’s Competition Authority is working in a more effective way than equivalent organisations in EU Member States. He also stressed that, regardless of all difficulties experienced by the Turkish economy, it is still showing tremendous resilience, growing and creating new job opportunities. Finally, referring to Turkey’s EU accession process, Kabaalioğlu noted that the fact that it is continuing indefinitely would decrease its effectiveness. In contrast, he underscored that the lifting of pending blockages and the choice of a target year would be helpful for the successful completion of negotiations, thus leading to an acceleration of the process and the revitalisation of Turkey’s reform process.