IKV: TURKISH PRIVATE SECTOR’S SPECIALISED INSTITUTION ON EU

IKV is a non-governmental research organization specialised on the EU and Turkey-EU relations. IKV was established with the initiative of Istanbul Chamber of Commerce and Istanbul Chamber of Industry on the 26^th November 1965, two years after the entry into force of the Ankara Agreement, to inform Turkish business world and Turkish public about European integration and Turkey-EU relations. Since its establishment, IKV has become an effective expert organisation on the EU and Turkey-EU relations both in Turkey and in the EU, through its publications, seminars, lobbying activities and the close cooperation with foreign and domestic institutions. IKV Brussels Office has been conducting IKV’s relations with the EU institutions since 1984. Briefly, IKV gives information regarding the EU to Turkey and regarding Turkey to the EU.

Along with the two founding organisations, Istanbul Chamber of Commerce and Istanbul Chamber of Industry, currently, IKV is supported from trustees representing the business world and sectors such as the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB), Turkish Exporters Assembly (TIM), Turkish Industry and Business Association (TUSIAD), Istanbul Textile and Apparel Exporters’ Association (IHKIB), Istanbul Commodity Exchange (ITB), Turkish Bank Associations (TBB), Confederation of Employers’ Union of Turkey (TISK), the Union of Agriculture Chambers of Turkey (TZOB) and Kocaeli Chamber of Industry. In addition to the members of the trustees, more than 30 organisations support the activities of IKV.

Since its establishment, IKV held important roles in the process of Turkey’s EU membership, Customs Union, EU candidacy and accession negotiations that started with the signature of Turkey-EEC Association Agreement and the Additional Protocol. During this process, IKV has been an important observer of the relations between Turkey and the EU through its various publications and research. In this regard, IKV played an informative role in informing Turkish public opinion, especially the Turkish private sector about the impacts of the accession process and hence contributed to their preparation towards Turkey’s EU membership. For instance, IKV took part in the negotiation process of the Additional Protocol which was signed in 1970 and entered into force in 1973 when the quotas for Turkish industrial goods exports to EC Member States had been determined.

Over the years, IKV has broadened the area of its activities as well as the number of its trustees and supporters, in parallel to the developments in Turkey-EU relations. Particularly, following the confirmation of Turkeys candidacy for the EU membership at Helsinki Summit in December 1999, IKV intensified its activities taking into account the requirements of the membership process. IKV, with the support of the representative organisations of the Turkish business world, has also undertaken the task of coordinating the relations of Turkish business world with the EU and the government in the areas concerning Turkey-EU relations.

Turkey’s accession process started on the 3^rd October 2005 upon the decision of heads of state and government of the 25 EU Member States on 17^th December 2004. Therefore, an important step has been made towards the EU membership which is the most significant project in the history of the Turkish Republic; therefore our country entered into a new and challenging phase.

In the course of this important and challenging process, IKVs activities have focused on informing the Turkish public concerning the issues formulating the agenda of the EU and Turkey-EU relations. Special emphasis is given to the accession negotiations; ensuring the active participation of the business world and NGOs in the process; and promoting Turkey in the EU Member States.

The problems Turkey encountered within the process of EU accession and providing solutions to these problems also constitute an important component of IKV’s current research topics. In this sense, primary research and working areas of IKV can be summarised as follows:

• Research and publications related to Turkey-EU accession negotiations process and solutions that will help overcoming these problems during this process;
• Research and publications on updating Turkey-EU Customs Union and the solutions to problems stem from the Free Trade Agreements concluded between the EU and the third countries where Turkey is left out;
• Research and publications on the implementation of Readmission Agreement and visa liberalisation process;
• Research and publications to inform Turkish public about Turkey’s goal of the EU membership and the gains from this membership;
• Research and publications to raise awareness in the EU and Member States concerning Turkey’s EU accession process and benefits of the EU accession.

Turkey’s EU membership is a social project which requires the support from all parts of the society including the public sector, civil society, private sector, academia and the media. IKV has pursued its research, information, training and coordination activities towards the EU membership without being affected by the changes occurring in socio-political conjuncture. IKV is dedicated to showing actively its support towards the acceleration of negotiation process and the achievement of membership goal. In this regard, IKV’s objectives and activities are summarised as follows:

Objectives:

• To contribute to the economic and social development of Turkey;
• To carry out activities in order to assist Turkey to develop relations with other countries, economic groups and in particular with the EU;
• To inform Turkish public and Turkish private sector in particularly on the EU and Turkey-EU relations through the organisation of seminars, conferences, panels and meetings along with to publish the works prepared by IKV or that are prepared by other specialist organisations upon the request of IKV;
• To ensure cooperation and coordination within the business world in Turkey as well as abroad;
• To formulate opinions concerning Turkey-EU relations, through cooperation and exchange of information with all interested public and private organisations;
• To continuously follow the developments in the EU and to inform the public about the impacts of these developments on Turkey;
• To promote Turkey abroad.

Activities:

• To organise seminars, conferences and colloquia on issues concerning the EU and Turkey-EU relations to inform Turkish public opinion, in particularly the private sector;
• To prepare comprehensive studies and publications;
• To develop projects contributing to Turkey-EU integration process;
• To promote Turkey in the EU and the EU within Turkish private sector and the public in close cooperation with various domestic and foreign individuals and organizations;
• Research and Publications: Since its establishment, the number of research published by IKV now approaches to 550 in all areas of the EU and Turkey-EU relations. IKVs researches and publications cover topics such as the EU politics, the impacts of the EU politics on Turkey and Turkey’s level of alignment, enlargement, Turkey’s accession process, the Customs Union, visa and readmission.
• E-Newsletter: IKV E-Newsletter aims to inform Turkish public and private sector about the significant developments both in the EU and in Turkey-EU relations on a regular basis. IKV E-Newsletter is published on biweekly basis since 2005 and is sent to almost 10,000 subscribers in IKV database.
• Analysis: The analyses regarding the important development in Turkey-EU relations along with the significant issues in the EU and global agenda have been prepared by IKV researchers since 2015.
• Almanac: At the end of each year, IKV publishes an almanac that covers the critical developments in EU policies, EU Member States and in Turkey-EU relations prepared chronologically and supported by visual materials.
• Projects:

Projects aiming to develop cooperation among companies: IKV, with the support and cooperation of the European Commission, acts as the representative in Turkey for several programmes aiming to promote cooperation among SMEs in several areas such as the commercial, technical, financial, research and development areas (Europarneriat, Europartner, Medpartneriat, Enterprise, Business Partnerships etc.). With regard to these programmes, IKV is the only institution that has been selected among 80 countries as the most successful “National Representative” for five consecutive years.

Training and Information Projects: IKV considers Turkey’s integration with the EU as a project that requires the active participation and support of the whole society. In this regard, IKV focuses on training and information projects towards all segments of the society including the business world to enhance integration of the society to Turkey’s accession process and to increase public support by overcoming the lack of knowledge on issues related to EU. The latest projects towards this aim are “Turkey-EU Seminars in the Pre-Accession Process” and “The Impacts of the Horizontal Implementation of the EU Acquis on Leading Turkish Business Sectors”.

• Seminars, Conferences and Other Colloquia: IKV organizes seminars, conferences and other colloquia on the EU and Turkey-EU relations with the participation of experts from Turkey and in EU not only in Turkey but also in EU Member States.
• Formulating Views and Opinions: IKV monitors changes in the EU and in Turkey-EU relations and develops through constant dialogue and exchange of information with the public and private sector, various opinions and suggestions on behalf of the Turkish business world.
• Coordination, Promotion and Lobbying:

IKV carries out extensive promotion activities in particular vis-à-vis the EU institutions and member state delegations through its Brussels Office.

IKV ensures a regular flow of information, including activities undertaken by Turkey in the harmonisation process, to the European Commission and European Parliament as well as to the NGOs and foreign media representatives; supports and participates to the meetings in the member states; and carries out lobbying activities by inviting bureaucrats from EU institutions and EU member states to Turkey.

IKV has undertaken the task of coordinating the relations with the EU institutions and public sector on issues related to EU with the support of Turkish private sector representative organizations. In this respect, IKV carries out multi-faceted communication, promotion and lobbying activities under the framework of “Turkish Platform” that is formed by IKV and supported by 250 NGOs representing different segments of the society.

IKV actively participates in the activities of the European Union Communication Group (ABİG), a joint initiative bringing together Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Secretariat General for the EU Affairs, Union of Chambers, Maritime Chambers and Stock Exchanges of Turkey, Turkish Industrialists and Businessmen Association and IKV to inform EU citizens about Turkey and the contributions of Turkeys membership.