20/10/2020

Written question to the EC on the suspension of EU-Turkey customs union and other protective countermeasures in response to repeated criminal acts by Turkey targeting the European Union

In his letter of 19 October 2020 to Oliver Varhelyi, Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, which was forwarded to Mr Valdis Dombrovskis, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission for an Economy that Works for People, Greek Foreign Minister Nikolaos Dendias pointed out that Turkey was in breach of the Customs Union, having unilaterally adopted unforeseen laws, tariffs and equivalent measures, as reflected in the recent 2020 EU-Turkey Association Report. He called for countermeasures, including the immediate introduction of additional protective mechanisms under Article 60 of the 1970 Additional Protocol and Article 58 of Decision 1/95 of the EU-Turkey Association Council.

He also called for consideration to be given to a total suspension of the customs union pursuant to the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (Article 60 et seq.) as a signal of disapproval of Turkey’s repeated transgressions targeting the EU.

In view of this: Can the Commission state its position regarding, firstly, the adoption of the above protective countermeasures and, secondly, a blanket suspension of the EU-Turkey Customs Union?

Read the question here.

Joint answer given by Executive Vice-President Dombrovskis on behalf of the European Commission