IKV organised a panel titled “Modernisation of the Turkey-EU Customs Union and the Effects of the Green Deal” on 12 May 2022 in cooperation with the Marmara University Institute of European Studies. The opening speech of the panel, which was moderated by IKV Deputy Secretary General M. Gökhan Kilit, was delivered by IKV Chairman Ayhan Zeytinoğlu. Zeytinoğlu stated that Turkey would have to adapt to Green Deal standards, just like Turkey adopted EU standards related to the Customs Union in the past. Highlighting that the EU will impose import duties on certain sectors, Zeytinoğlu pointed out that Turkey should establish an Emissions Trading System compatible with the EU.

The speakers of the first session were the General Manager of Sarkuysan Sevgür Arslanpay and the Chief Executive Officer of HKTM Tunç Atıl. Indicating that the large companies are aware of the Green Deal, Arslanpay said that SMEs and small companies still do not fully understand the importance of the process. Speaking after Arslanpay, Atıl stated that the factory built on the land purchased for HKTM in 2012 for the purposes of renewable energy and efficiency was the first factory in its sector to receive the LEED GOLD certificate.

Speaking in the second session, IKV Secretary General Assoc. Prof. Çiğdem Nas stated that the political relations between Turkey and the EU have reached an impasse which negatively affects the process within the framework of the Customs Union. Nas also stated that the modernisation of the Customs Union would enable Turkey to act simultaneously with the EU's FTAs, create a more effective dispute resolution mechanism, and solve the visa problem. The second speaker of the session, Assoc. Prof. Esra Yüksel Acı from Marmara University, touched upon the shortcomings in recycling and underlined that carbon emissions continue to spread since energy is also used in recycling factories during the recycling process. The last speaker of the session, Assoc. Prof. Rana Atabay Kuşçu from Istanbul Medipol University, talked about the issues related to Turkey-EU trade relations, the EU’s changing trade strategy, the modernisation of the Turkey-EU Customs Union and the Green Deal. She concluded her speech by saying that Turkey is not only a neighbour and a strategic partner, but also an EU candidate country, and this is the most important issue that should not be forgotten in the modernisation of the Customs Union.