Question

What are the features provided after Turkey's customs union? (embodiment)

Answer 1

Solution:

Negotiating an upgrade to Turkey's customs union,  presents a number of features . Seven areas are worth highlighting in particular after the impementaion of Turkesy's Custome union:

1. Compliance and implementation: The EU will demand the introduction of mechanisms and procedures to improve the European Commission’s screening of Turkish legislative compliance with the EU acquis, and require Turkey to implement changes in the relevant EU rules and regulations. It will push for deadlines on the notification of Turkish legislative measures to the Commission, the requirement to translate from Turkish, and the creation of a committee composed of Turkish and Commission officials to check its compatibility with the acquis.
2. Trade policy influence: The Commission has noted Turkey’s dissatisfaction with its lack of influence in EU trade policy formulation, although it has suggested only modest proposals to address this, including ‘better consideration [of Turkey] in consultative mechanisms, and participation in the work of some of the committees/groups related to the CU functioning’. For its part, it firmly demands that a DSM ‘should’ as opposed to ‘could’ be established, a key EU objective.
3. Rebalancing FTA asymmetry: The Commission understands the importance of ending the asymmetrical application of its FTAs to Turkey. A potential solution is for the EU to insist that the third country grant equivalent access to Turkish products until an FTA is negotiated with that country. Alternatively, the EU could calibrate implementation with the entry into force of a parallel FTA with Turkey.
4. Transportation and transit: The EU will not eliminate the bureaucratic procedures faced by Turkish hauliers at the border with Bulgaria and Greece, since this privilege is linked to the free movement of people. The EU is not ready to grant Turkish citizens the right to free movement, which means Turkish drivers will continue to face border delays. However, the EU may consider mechanisms and procedures to improve dialogue and coordination with the Commission and member states’ customs officials to facilitate the transportation of goods at the border and throughout the EU. Concerning internal restrictions in the form of motor vehicle taxes and transportation quotas/transit permits, the CJEU’s groundbreaking ruling in the 2017 ‘Istanbul Logisitk Limited vs. Hungarian Administrative Authorities’ case may lead to their eventual elimination.

5. Agriculture: There is recognition in Turkey that agriculture will be the most challenging sector in the CU upgrade negotiations.Through the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the EU provides extensive agriculture subsidies to producers, and has been historically unwilling to open up domestic agriculture markets. Unsurprisingly, it imposes strict time limits and quotas on tariff-free access as well as tariff quotas on fruit, vegetables and dairy produce from Turkey.

6. Dispute settlement mechanism: It is reasonable to assume that the EU will also insist on a DSM modelled on the DCFTA with Ukraine, which is a streamlined version of the WTO’s ‘dispute settlement understanding’. If consultation between the parties does not end the dispute, a three-person expert arbitration panel selected by the parties or by lot from an agreed list will issue a ruling within four months. It will be binding on the party in breach and, in the event of partial or non-compliance, the complainant is allowed to impose proportionate sanctions.

7. Visa liberalization for Turkish citizens: Turkey and the EU have isolated visa liberalization for Turkish citizens to the Schengen borderless zone into a separate track from the CU revamp. On 16 March 2016, as part of the deal to curb migration into mainland Europe, the EU and Turkey agreed that the fulfilment of the visa liberalization roadmap will be accelerated vis-à-vis all participating member states with a view to lifting the visa requirements for Turkish citizens at the latest by the end of June 2016, provided that all the benchmarks have been met.

* Please Like the solution if you are satisfied with same.