Turkey looks forward to 2018 customs union deal update

ANKARA – Anadolu Agency

Turkey hopes an update to the customs union deal will be on the agenda of the first European Council meeting due in the spring of 2018, Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci said on Nov. 29.

“Majority of EU member countries, 25 or 26, have the opinion that updating customs union deal is firstly in favor of the EU then Turkey. They are supporting Turkey so that this positive platform will not get spoiled,” the minister said during a meeting with the members of Turkish Industry and Business Association (TÜSİAD) in Ankara.

Regarding the U.K.’s Brexit, Zeybekci said the U.K was Turkey’s second biggest trading partner after Germany.

“We are approaching the trade volume target of $20 billion,” he said.

Zeybekci said both countries have carried out joint studies regarding Brexit process.

He said there was a framework to deal with the post Brexit situation and Turkish technical teams had carried out their work in this regard swiftly.

“Official negotiations was started on Nov. 9. Both sides have carried out studies to prevent any gap that may occur after Brexit,” he added.

The Customs Union between Turkey and the EU came into force on Dec. 31, 1995. It covers all industrial goods but does not address agriculture (apart from processed agricultural products), services or public procurement.

The European Commission stated on Dec. 21, 2016 that it had asked the European Council for a mandate to launch talks with Turkey to modernize the existing EU-Turkey Customs Union.