Off the wire
• EU grants protection to over 185,000 asylum seekers in 2014  • British PM promises "different gov't" in first all-Conservative cabinet meeting  • Ukraine hopes to wrap up FTA talks with Canada as soon as possible  • China Voice: An end to irresponsible China military report  • Spanish military rescue personnel return from Nepal, bodies still missing  • Bulgarian, Spanish FMs express concern over migration  • Feature: Thomas the Tank Engine to thank for age of steam survival  • Vietnam's top young tennis player seeded 7th for Milan event  • Roundup: Indonesia goes ahead developing mega coal-fired power plant project despite emission concerns  • President Xi returns home from visits to Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus  
You are here: 　 Home

EU, Turkey pledge to modernize custom union

Xinhua, May 12, 2015 Adjust font size:

European Union (EU) Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom on Tuesday met with the Minister of Economy of Turkey Nihat Zeybekci to agree on modernizing a bilateral custom union and fostering closer trade relations.

"We need to modernize our custom union with Turkey and bring it into the 21st century. This initiative will boost EU-Turkey commercial relations," said Malmstrom.

According to a press release issued by the European Commission, the announcement followed technical discussions held over the last 12 months that allowed both sides to understand each other's expectations and ambitions for new preferential bilateral trade relations, as the customs union agreement between the two sides was 20 years old.

Both sides will now undertake their respective internal procedures to adopt this initiative and to seek the corresponding negotiating mandates, according to the press release.

"The enhancement of bilateral trade relations is not an alternative to the accession negotiations of Turkey, but complementary to it," said the press release.

Turkey is the EU's sixth biggest trading partner, whereas the EU is Turkey's biggest trading partner. Endit