Invitation Only Research Event
12 December 2018 - 12:30pm to 1:30pm
Chatham House | 10 St James's Square | London | SW1Y 4LE
Event participants
Fadi Hakura, Consulting Fellow and Turkey Project Manager, Europe Programme, Chatham House
Chair: Professor Jim Rollo, Deputy Director, UK Trade Policy Observatory (UKTPO), University of Sussex; Associate Fellow, Global Economy and Finance Department, Chatham House
Turkey and the EU have been in a customs union since 1995. Both sides recognize that the current agreement is in need of modernization and have agreed to open negotiations to expand its scope to include services, public procurement, agriculture and other elements that would help bring it into the 21st century.
At the same time, the UK Parliament is debating whether to approve the agreement on the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. It includes a backstop which – if triggered – would keep the UK and the EU in a single customs territory which would limit the disruption of withdrawal but hamper Britain’s ability to pursue an independent trade policy. The political declaration proposes building on this customs arrangement as the basis for the future relationship.
In this context, the speaker will discuss the current EU-Turkey customs union arrangement and its shortcomings, examine the prospects for its modernization and share his insights on the lessons for the UK’s future trading relationship with the EU.
The event will launch the briefing paper ‘EU-Turkey Customs Union: Prospects for Modernization and Lessons for Brexit’.
Attendance at this event is by invitation only.