IKV Chairperson Dr. Ayhan Zeytinoğlu attended the EU–Türkiye High-Level Business Dialogue (HLBD) meeting held at the Dolmabahçe Presidential Working Office in İstanbul on 2 July 2026.

The HLBD meeting followed the EU–Türkiye High-Level Economic Dialogue between the delegations led by Minister of Treasury and Finance Mehmet Şimşek and European Commissioner for Economy and Productivity, Implementation and Simplification Valdis Dombrovskis, bringing together representatives of the business community and international financial institutions.

The opening remarks were delivered by Minister Şimşek and Commissioner Dombrovskis, followed by keynote speeches by TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu and EUROCHAMBRES CEO Ben Butters. Representatives of the business community from Türkiye and the EU, together with international financial institutions, discussed EU–Türkiye relations and economic cooperation in a roundtable format, exchanging views and expectations regarding the further development and revitalisation of EU–Türkiye economic and trade relations. The roundtable session was moderated by Elif Kurşunlu, Director General for Relations with the EU at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Türkiye, and Annika Eriksgaard, Deputy Director-General of the European Commission.

In his remarks, Dr. Zeytinoğlu emphasised that IKV is a think tank established to support Türkiye’s accession to the European Union. He underlined the need to modernise the EU–Türkiye Customs Union and highlighted the trade-diverting effects of the EU’s nearly 80 free trade agreements, noting that they create asymmetries within the Customs Union. Referring to the EU Industrial Decarbonisation Accelerator Act and the “Made in EU” criterion, Dr. Zeytinoğlu stressed that products manufactured in Türkiye should not be excluded from this framework. He also addressed the Schengen visa process, emphasising that visa fees and the difficulties experienced by applicants have effectively become a non-tariff barrier in EU–Türkiye relations. IKV Chairperson Dr. Ayhan Zeytinoğlu was accompanied at the meeting by IKV Secretary General Assoc. Prof. Çiğdem Nas and Deputy Secretary General M. Gökhan Kilit.