Home breadcru News breadcru Policy breadcru Updating Turkiye-EU Customs Union 'a necessity': Trade Minister Bolat

Updating Turkiye-EU Customs Union 'a necessity': Trade Minister Bolat

04 Jul '25
2 min read
Updating Turkiye-EU Customs Union 'a necessity': Trade minister Bolat
(L) Maros Sefcovic, the EU Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security with Turkish Trade Minister Omer Bolat. Pic: @MarosSefcovic/X

Insights

  • Turkish Trade Minister Bolat has stressed that updating the 1995 Customs Union with the EU is essential, not optional, given today's trade realities.
  • Speaking at the Turkiye-EU High-Level Trade Dialogue, he highlighted Turkiye's strategic role in EU supply chains.
  • Bolat called for a modernised Customs Union covering services, digitalisation, and sustainability to better reflect current trade dynamics.
Updating the 1995 Customs Union with the European Union (EU) ‘is not a choice, but a necessity’, Turkish Trade Minister Omer Bolat recently said.

"We cannot manage the trade of 2025 with rules established 30 years ago," he said.

Turkiye has become a production hub near Europe with its qualified workforce, dynamic production capabilities and advanced financial system, successfully integrating into global supply chains, he noted.

Bolat was addressing the Turkiye-EU High-Level Trade Dialogue meeting in Ankara along with Maros Sefcovic, the EU commissioner for trade and economic security.

"In terms of the security and resilience of global supply chains, Turkiye is a strategic partner for Europe. Our geostrategic position and production capabilities offer vital support in reducing the EU's dependency on foreign sources for critical products," Bolat was quoted as saying by domestic media reports.

"Despite all these advantages, the current structure of the Turkiye-EU Customs Union does not fully align with today's trade dynamics, and both sides agree on this point," he noted.

"Updating the customs union within the framework of digitalisation, trade in services, sustainable development and next-generation trade policies presents a key opportunity for advancing our relations," the minister added.

The EU is Turkiye's key trading partner and is the only non-EU country that has a Customs Union deal with the bloc.

ALCHEMPro News Desk (DS)

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