Türkiye, EU aim to eliminate trade barriers within custom union

Türkiye and the European Union discussed significant topics on Monday during the inaugural session of the Türkiye-EU High-Level Trade Dialogue in Brussels.

Key topics and goals

The meeting, co-chaired by Turkish Trade Minister Omer Bolat and European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis, addressed several critical issues. These included:

Mutual collaboration to eliminate trade barriers within the Customs Union
Facilitation of visa procedures
Road transport quotas
New cooperation areas in green and digital transformation

Establishing a solid foundation

"With Türkiye being the EU's 5th largest trading partner, we have established this new dialogue to ensure the healthy functioning and modernization of the Customs Union," Bolat said on the X platform.

He emphasized that the discussions over the past year with the European Commission have been constructive and intensive, aiming to adapt to new developments.

Future cooperation and opportunities

The parties agreed on a roadmap to implement new areas of cooperation and opportunities that hold significant potential.

"Türkiye-EU trade integration will continue to be enhanced based on mutual balance and win-win principles, with valuable contributions from our business community representatives," Bolat added.

Promising steps forward

Dombrovskis also commented on the X platform, highlighting that the first dialogue meeting between the EU and Türkiye was a promising step toward strengthening trade relations and removing more trade barriers in the Customs Union.