Handelsbetrekkingen tussen de EU en Turkije nog meer verbeteren (en)
EU i-Turkey trade is "at an advanced level", but to improve trade relations further, customs union mechanisms need to be made fully functional, bureaucracy simplified, and remaining tariff and non-tariff barriers removed, said the International Trade Committee on Wednesday. MEPs i also called on the Turkey to implement the additional protocol to the EC-Turkey Association Agreement in full, as failure to do so could seriously hamper accession negotiations with the EU.
The committee called on both the EU and Turkey to pay due attention to their interlinked economies and "to maintain open trade and investments regimes" in a non-legislative report drafted by Metin Kazak (ALDE i, BG) and approved on Wednesday with 23 votes in favour and 2 against.
Remove trade barriers on both sides
All unnecessary barriers to EU-Turkey trade, such as non-recognition of certification, duplicative testing, multiple inspections, technical regulations and standards should be removed, stressed MEPs, who also urged Turkey to avoid discriminating foreign firms by giving a 15% price advantage to Turkish bidders for public procurement contracts.
MEPs noted that counterfeit products, including pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, are a major problem in EU-Turkey trade relations and reduce Turkey's attractiveness to foreign direct investors.
The report also lists non-tariff barriers faced by Turkish exporters. These include recurrent visa problems for Turkish businessmen and lorry drivers, which restrict their movement, and Turkey's difficulty in concluding free trade agreements (FTAs) with third countries that already have FTAs the EU. Because of the EU-Turkey customs union, third countries that have FTAs with the EU get preferential access to Turkish market, but Turkish exporters do not have reciprocal access to their markets.
Implement the additional protocol in full
MEPs deplored Turkey's failure, for the fifth consecutive year, to implement the additional protocol to the EC-Turkey Association Agreement. They called on the Turkish government to implement it fully, without delay or discrimination, and stressed that "failure to do so may further seriously affect the negotiating process" for EU accession.
EU-Turkey customs union
The EU-Turkey customs union (CU), established in 1996, has helped bring about a considerable degree of market integration, especially in the field of the free movement of goods. MEPs consider that the CU, which covers all industrial products and processed agricultural goods, could be extended to cover other areas such as services and public procurement.
EU-Turkey trade relations
Turkey is the EU’s seventh largest trade partner and the EU is Turkey’s largest trading partner. Turkey is the seventeenth largest economy in the world according to the World Bank and the sixth largest economy in Europe, with industrial goods amounting to over 90% of its exports. It has been ranked as the worlds' 20th largest receiver of FDI and its FDI inflow amounted to US $18 billion in 2008.
What's next?
The draft resolution will be put to a plenary vote at the first Strasbourg session in September.
In the chair: Vital Moreira (S&D, PT´)
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