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Good evening.

Thank you very much for joining us here in our Berlaymon VIP corner for the press point that follows today's high-level trade dialogue between the EU and Turkey.

I'm very pleased to be joined by Commissioner Šefčovič and Minister Bola,

who will give brief remarks before we open the floor for some questions.

Just to let you know that we have just now or will imminently be publishing the joint statement from today's high-level dialogue which we encourage you to read.

Many thanks, and with this I hand the floor over to Commissionerf. Good evening.

I'm pleased to welcome Minister Pollard to Brussels as we co-chair our high-level dialogue on trade.

As we discussed also this afternoon, we meet often at for like the OECD, G20, most recently, but today is,

but today is different, because we really had a very focused meeting on the work that we do together.

Turkey is a key partner for the European Union and our trade keeps growing and thanks to the EU-Turkey customs union,

it reached a record of nearly €218 billion in goods in 2025 while in services our trade surpassed some €40 billion.

Turkey is now the EU's 5th largest trade partner,

accounting for over 4% of all EU trade in goods.

On both sides, motor vehicles, machinery, and electric equipment lead the way.

On investment, the EU is by far Turkey's largest investor,

supplying more than 50% of all foreign direct investment.

Strong numbers, but we both know there is more to unlock.

The interest is mutual, and that is why today's talks matter, and I appreciated how productive they have been.

We began with a roundtable of EU and Turkish business representatives, and their message was clear.

They want us to go further, and they strongly back modernizing the customs union.

As part of these efforts, they seek closer cooperation on the green and digital transformation, and we hear them.

Turkey is the only major economy with which the EU has a customs union.

Therefore,

no surprise that our businesses are so closely linked with supply chains intertwined across many sectors.

We keep addressing the remaining trade barriers that businesses perceive as obstacles,

and we must, and I believe we will keep this momentum further.

In this context, I am genuinely pleased to announce.

That we have been able to remove one important barrier related to Turkey's import control system, tariffs.

Turkey has implemented several transparency measures that should make the system easier for the EU exporters to use.

We look forward to continuing our constructive cooperation with our Turkish partners to find solutions to the remaining technical challenges.

Another good example is the outcome for trusted traders,

which also reflects the EU's and Turkey's shared interest in safety and security.

We have agreed a mutual recognition agreement on our authorized economic operator programs,

which is being published in our official journal today.

Put simply, each side now recognizes the other's trusted traders.

Considered safe by both the goods cross border faster.

This is a real step forward for smooth trade flows and customs cooperation within the current customs union framework,

and I would like to thank everyone whose hard work make it happen.

Once again, a warm welcome to Minister Bullari and his team,

and I'm looking forward to continuing our discussions tonight. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you.