Türkiye, EU to gain from closer economic ties amid global challenges
Serkan Demirtaş - ANKARA
Closer economic and trade ties will serve the interests of both Türkiye and the European Union amid global challenges, a senior EU official said, expressing Brussels’ strong willingness to modernize the customs union while underlining that deepening trade in public procurement and services will unlock new opportunities.
In a written interview with the Hürriyet Daily News ahead of the Türkiye-EU High Level Economic Dialogue (HLED) meeting with Economy Minister Mehmet Şimşek, EU Commissioner for Economy and Productivity Valdis Dombrovskis expressed the importance of continued cooperation between the two sides. “The EU-Türkiye relationship is one of strategic importance, built on decades of cooperation across shared priorities including security, trade, the economy, migration and climate change,” Dombrovskis said. The EU shares a common interest with Türkiye, a candidate country, in strengthening economic security and promoting regional stability, the commissioner stressed. “In an environment of global uncertainty, it is in our best interest to reinforce our trade and investment relations, and value chain integration,” he added. In their first HLED meeting since a six-year hiatus in 2025, Türkiye and the EU agreed to intensify efforts to better leverage current economic channels while building new trade pathways.
