IKV organized on 20 April 2015 a seminar entitled "Sakarya Debates the EU: The New Agenda in Turkey-EU Relations" in cooperation with Sakarya Chamber of Commerce and Industry with the support of  Sakarya Commodity Exchange, Akyazı Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Akyazı Commodity Exchange. Turkey-EU economic relations, Customs Union, TTIP, visa liberalisation dialogue and the Readmission Agreement were the main topics discussed during the seminar which was held in Sakarya.

The opening speeches were delivered by the Chairman of Sakarya Chamber of Commerce and Industry Mahmut Kösemusul, the President of Sakarya University Muzaffer Elmas and IKV Chairman Ömer Cihad Vardan.

In his opening speech, IKV Chairman drew attention to the main problems encountered within the current way of functioning of the Customs Union which are a cause of major concern for the Turkish business community. These problems are related to the visa procedure applied to Turkish citizens, the transport quotas applied to Turkish trucks and the free trade agreements (FTAs) signed by the EU with third countries. Chairman Vardan also stressed the importance for Turkey of economic relations between Turkey and the EU and noted the significance for Turkey to take part in the TTIP process. Vardan referred also to Turkey’s membership negotiations with the EU and noted his support for a revitalisation of the process by the opening of new chapters.

The panel on “New Agenda on Turkey – EU Relations” was chaired by IKV Member of the Executive Board Responsible for Accounts Mehmet Nuri Görenoğlu. In his brief presentation, he explained that the prospect of EU membership constitutes a driving force for the development of Turkey since it has contributed in the reinforcement of its industry and encouraged reforms aiming to raise its democratic standards. Nevertheless drawing the attention to difficulties encountered within Turkey’s EU accession process, he stressed the importance of launching the visa liberalisation dialogue and the revision of the Customs Union as well as opening Chapter 17 on Economic and Monetary Policy to negotiations.

In the panel, the General Director for EU Affairs of the Ministry of Economy, Murat Yapıcı shared with the participants the latest developments regarding the update of the Customs Union. He explained that after the establishment of the Customs Union between Turkey and the EU, the international environment has significantly changed due to the slow progress in Turkey’s EU accession negotiations and the shift of EU’s trade policy towards bilateral and regional FTAs following the slow pace of multilateral trade negotiations under the auspice of the WTO. Murat Yapıcı also underlined that Turkey was not represented sufficiently in the decision making process, especially in the Trade Policy Committee. Murat Yapıcı also stressed the negative impacts of these agreements on Turkey since Turkey is excluded from the negotiation process and continues to face barriers when entering in the market of third countries when EU member states gain privileged access.. With the TTIP, it is forecasted that the negative impacts will be greater for Turkey. It has thus become necessary to revise and expand the framework of the Customs Union that will be more suited to the new global economic and trade environment and to solve the structural problems. With regard to the revision of the Customs Union, Turkey wants to establish a mechanism that will allow the FTAs to be concluded in parallel with the EU, to abolish transport quotas and to ensure its participation to the decision making process. The European side on the other hand insists on widening the scope of the Customs Union to trade, service and public procurement and to reinforce the dispute settlement mechanism.

In his presentation, IKV Brussels Representative Haluk Nuray gave a comprehensive analysis on the reasons that have pushed the EU and USA to launch TTIP negotiations. In this regard, he underlined the changes that have occurred in the world trade by giving an emphasis on the rise of economic actors in Asia (especially China and South Korea), the shift of global production to Asia, new trade policy of countries focusing on bilateral or regional agreements and the development of the supply value chain model.

In his presentation, IKV Deputy Secretary General and Research Director Melih Özsöz explained the legal, economic and human dimensions of the visa procedures applied to Turkish citizens wishing to travel to EU Member States. In regard to the visa liberalisation dialogue, he explained that according to the first progress report on visa liberalisation roadmap, Turkey has recorded important progress in fulfilling 62 out of 72 criteria required for the abolishment of the visas. Nevertheless Özsöz also stressed that Turkey needs to pursue its reforms especially in areas such as data protection and fundamental freedoms.