Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris

REVUE DE PRESSE~PRESS REVIEW~BERHEVOKAÇAPÊ~RIVISTA STAMPA~DENTRO DE LA PRENSA~BASIN ÖZETÏ
Turkisb Daily News FRIDAY.MAYI9.1995 A2
Lake: Further progress on customs
union dependent on human rights
A further indication of the impact of the customs union on business in
Turkey is skyrocketing rise in IMKB, EU representative
says
TurJash Uaily News
1STANBUL-
Even more important than
technical measures now is the question of
human rights in Turkey, said Ambassador
Michael Lake who is the head of'the
European .Commission' s (EC)
Representation in Turkey.
Speaking at a business forum organized
by mtemational Business Services yester- .
day at the. Hyatt Re~ency Istanbul, L~e
made a pomt of stress10ghow apprehensive
the EC member country representatives
were at the last two Association Council
meetings about the human rights situation in
Turkey. .
Pointing out that they had appealed to
Turkey to make improvements in this area,
Lake emphasized the need to align Turkey's
and the EC' uystems in guarantèeing fundamental
rights for the individual which are
taken for granted in the European Union
(EU), but restricted for Turkish citizens. At
the next meeting of the European
Parliament that body will approve or :eje~t
Turkey's entry into a full customs uruon If
its members, which represent all 15 EU
member states.
Approval will follow if a wide range. of
party blocs feel that Turkey and the Umon
are on the same fundamental path. Lake
then turned to the economic importance of
the customs union, as Turkey has become
the EU's tenth most important trading partner,
with an overall balance of trade over
$20 billion.
European ente~rises .accçunt for tW?-
thirds of the foreign capital Investment 10
Turkey, and Lake em,p.hasizedthat this will
certainly rnlW larger if foreign investors see
that protè;:tion of intellectual and industrial
property policy, competition policy and harmonized
technical standards are being
adhered to. At the same time he indicated
that he wasn't sure that everyone in Turkey
understood in detail the real depth and
breadth of the benefits which would accrue
to everyone in the country.
The ambassador chose to accentuate what
was positive in the customs union for
Turkey, emphasizing that no one should
doubt the commitment to the completion of
the customs union and how it would lead
"to a stronger, more prosperous and stable
democracy in Turkey, a model for the
region as a whole." He also noted that there
had been quite a lot of work going on
behind the scenes and progress made in
meetings with committees and ministries
that wasn't apparent to the public. While
pointing out that Turkey had to adopt single
market legislation in a number of areas in
order to see that there was a level playing
field, Lake didn't spare the EU from criticism.
Financial cooperation, for example, will
have to be resumed. such as what recently
happened with the signing of a 15-year
agreement with the European Investment
Bank for 35 million ECUs to upgrade water
and, sewage treatment in Antalya. "But
much more is available under both the current
and the new Mediterranean packages to
be approved by the European Council- the
biannual summit meet10g - this time at
Cannes under the French Presidency in
June," Lake said.
"This commitment should be seen in the
context of the major effort being made by
Turkey to adapt its economy to a more competitive
environment," h~ continued. "And
10 the months ahead the European Union
will also be working to set u~ the machinery
for nmning the customs llruon. There are
still outstanding issues to settle at the technicallevel
on coal and steel, conditions for
ending. self-restraint in textiles on the
Turkish side and on automobiles some technical
measures needed to avoid the circumvention
of our consensus with Japan."
Bringing policy into line
Turning to commercial policy, Lake outlined
the various provisions and measures
which would bring Turkey's in line with
those of the EU. These include common
rules for imports and exJ>Orts,procedures for
administering quanti~tlve quotas! o~cially
supported export credits and textile ImportS
under autonomous arrangements. Turkey
also has to improve the effective protection
of intellectual, industrial and commercial
property rights so that the level of protection
ISequivalent to that in the EC.
Lake takes as an indicator of the implication
which the customs union will have on
Turkey the activity on the Istanbul Stock
Exchange, where Investors received a 31
.percent return in dollar terms in the month
following the signing of the customs union
agreement. Although there have been
rumors that this increase was due to speculative
money, Lake believes that the record
highs in trading value are significant
because they refute such arguments. Textile'
stocks played a crucial role in the rise in the
index.
Turning his attention to various sectors
Lake gave detailed information about th~
textile industry and how enthusiastic it is
about entering the customs union. Turkey
has been the number one ready-lo-wear
exporter to the EU since 1992, and the
expofters are looking at a market which is
expected to grow by 17-22 percent in 1996.
The growth forecast for 2001 is nine percent.
The automotive sector, on the other
hand, has f~lt the most threatened by thë
customs UnIon but all manufacturers in
Turkeyare EU-Turkish joint ventures with
the exception of Toyota. Other sectors considered
were durable goods, cement and
iron and steel.
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