Turkey-EU Relations THE Role and Contribution of TOBB

Outline -Who are we? -Chamber system -Network (national & international) -How have we organized our work? - What do we do for the EU Accession Process? -Failures in the EU Accession Process

Who are we? Chamber system Continental chamber system – compulsory membership (similar to German, French, Spanish, Italian, Netherlands etc.) Non-profit organizations Self financing Election for all the governing bodies

Who are we? National Network A grassroots organization. 1.3 million members; – Small, medium and large enterprises – From all sectors of the economy 365 local chambers and commodity exchanges. 56 Sectoral Assemblies.

World Chamber Federation EUROCHAMBRES Islamic Chamber of Commerce ECO Chambers of Commerce and Industry Association of Balkan Chambers of Commerce and Industry Who are we? International Network (1)

ASCAME International Road Transport Union OECD- BIAC Business Councils with 77 countries (Trough Foreign Economic Relations Board – DEİK; an affiliate of TOB) Who are we? International Network (2)

Turkey-EU Relations and the Business Community

Turkey-EU Relations 31 July 1959, Application for association membership, 12 September 1963, Association Agreement signed, 1 January 1973, Additional Protocol entered into force, 14 April 1987, Application for membership, 1 January 1996, Customs Union December 1999, Turkey’s candidature was re-affirmed 6 October 2004, The European Commission declared that “Turkey sufficiently fulfils the Copenhagen Political Criteria”, 17 December 2004, decision to start negotiations with Turkey was taken, 3 October 2005, accession negotiations started, 8 chapters opened for negotiations

How we have organized our work? Anchors Anchors of restructuring the work of TOBB; – Turkey’s Economic crisis of 2001 and the economic reform program – EU Accession process – Globalization

A new law for TOBB and Chamber system Upgradee the existing structures, – IKV – Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEİK) – TOBB Brussles Permanent Representation New institutions; – TEPAV: Economic Policy Research Foundation of Turkey – TOBB University of Economics and Technology – Turkish Business Research Organization (TUR&BO) – TOBB Washington Representative How we have organized our work? Legislation & Institutions

For Better Policy Formulation: Economic Policy Research Foundation of Turkey Established in 2004 Objective: To create an independent research capacity for PSD and PPSD. Three Institutes have been established: -Economic Policy Research Institute -Stability Institute - Foreign Policy Institute

Investment on Education: TOBB-University of Economics Technology Established in The most preferred university Academic Success: -Number One: Publication per academic - (2005 –2006 Resource: YÖK)

We need to build capacity at; – Policy making, – TOBB level, – local/chambers level, – corporate level, We need to work on acquis alignment We need to work on civil society dialogue What do we do for the EU Accession Process? Answers!

TEPAV TOBB-ETU Strengthening the Economic Development Foundation (İKV) What do we do for the EU Accession Process? Policy making !

TOBB The General Assembly (1500 delegates & Representatives from the Local Chambers) Board of Directors (15 Members - Elected by General Assembly) President ( elected for 4 years - re-elected once) Secretary General (appointed) Brussles Representation Washington Representation İstanbul Office Legal Adviser Press Adviser Advisers to SG Deputy Secretary General H.D. Chambers H.D. EU Department H.D. Trade and TIR Carnets H.D. IT H.D. Industry H.D. Sectroral Assemblies H.D. Foreign Ecn. RelationsH.D. Administrative Affairs H.D. Financial Affairs H.D. Human Resources

Stronger EU Secretariat at TOBB. – The number of staff has been increasing (from 1 to 17) – The EU division has been upgraded to Head of Department – More staff with EU background are employed in the departments, such as, industry, environment, SME, Trade etc. TOBB EU Harmonization Commission – Established in May 2005, – Consists of 8 members (all businessmen) What do we do for the EU Accession Process? at TOBB level

Turkish Chamber Development Program I – TOBB-Eurochambres Joint project, – Financially supported by the EU from the MEDA Funds (1 milliion €) – Implemented in – 11 partnership between Turkish and EU chambers were established, – TOBB Chamber Accreditation system was introduced by TOBB and the British Chambers of Commerce Objective: TCDP was designed to strengthen the role of Turkish Chambers of Commerce and Industry by developing their capacity to contribute to the internationalization of their member enterprises and to play a key role in local development. What do we do for the EU Accession Process? at chamber/ local level

Turkish Chamber Development Program II ( ) – Follow up of TCDP I – Financially supported by the EU from the MEDA Funds (1 million €) – Implemented in – 10 partnership between Turkish and EU chambers were established, – 10 chamber executives were trained on chamber management What do we do for the EU Accession Process? at chamber/ local level

EU-Turkey Chamber Forum – – TOBB-Eurochambres project – 4,5 million financial contribution of the EU – Part of Turkey –EU Civil society dialogue – Objective; to strengthen the dialogue and co-operation between the Turkish Chambers and their counterparts in the EU as members of civil society; thus promoting the integration of EU and Turkish business communities. What do we do for the EU Accession Process? at chamber/ local level

EU-Turkey Chamber Forum – activities; – Survey to assess the knowledge of Turkish companies on EU affairs and relevant policies. – Establishment of EU-Turkey Chamber partnerships. – Implementation of 12 EU Training Seminars in Turkey (Based on the feedback of the survey). – Preparation of 6 EU Publications. – Participation of 30 Turkish Chamber representatives in EUROCHAMBRES European Academies. – Creation of a Turkish Experts Database. – Accreditation of approx. 50 Turkish Chambers. What do we do for the EU Accession Process? at chamber/ local level

Chambers working for the Implementation of the Acquis and Business Ethics CASE Project: Chambers working for the Implementation of the Acquis and Business Ethics  Objective; – To increase the level of awareness of companies on the relevant acquis and its implications (consumer protection; environment, safety at work; standardization; ) – To ensure that Chambers have the capacity and tools to guide them in that process.  Duration: 18 months  Components; 1.Development and implementation of the acquis:  40 executives from local chambers trained on Acquis Audit on May 2008, in Istanbul  400 companies will be audited for acquis compliance. 2.Introduction of a CSR strategy among young entrepreneurs:  20 executives will be trained on CSR  100 companies will be visited for CSR strategy What do we do for the EU Accession Process? at chamber/ local level

– Training programs on EU Project cycle management (EU financial contribution, TOBB and EUSG) – IPA awareness raissing – information seminars (TOBB- Ministry of Industry and Trade) – Academics for local development project; TOBB – TEPAV Project Objective; To contribute to the policy making capacity for the local issues of the chambers by initiating links between Chambers and Academics, What do we do for the EU Accession Process? at chamber/ local level

Organized the women entrepreneurs at the national level trough the “TOBB Women Entrepreneurs Board” Organized the women entrepreneurs at the local level through the “Chamber Women Entrepreneurs Board” Objective: To support the women entrepreneurs in the coming elections of the chambers and TOBB. Chambers are encouraged for positive discrimination. What do we do for the EU Accession Process? at chamber/ local level

Turkey-EU Business Development Centers Project I; – TOBB project, – Financially supported by the EU from the MEDA Funds (17,5 million €) – Implemented in – Three Turkey-EU business centers were founded Turkey-EU Business Development Centers Project II; – TOBB project, – Financially supported by the EU (35 million €) – 14 Business centers will be founded in What do we do for the EU Accession Process? at corporate level

Seminars organized in cooperation between TOBB-TAIEX Since 2005; – State Aids, – Competition – Standardization – Public procurement – Intellectual Property Rights – Road Transportation and infrastructure – Maritime transportation – Vocational Training – Product safety – Market Surveillance What do we do for the EU Accession Process? at corporate level

Shareholders% TOBB50,99 KOSGEB48,54 TESK 0,43 MEKSA: Foundation for the Promotion of Vocational Training TOSYÖV: Turkish Foundations for Small & Medium Business Halkbank Objective; to support the SME’s to access finance by providing a guarantee for their financing. Capital: 20 million NTL What do we do for the EU Accession Process? Credit Guarantee Fund at corporate level

Information for SME’s on; – Financial resources – Environmental Impact Reports (CED reports) – Taxation – Social security – Standardization – IPR – etc. What do we do for the EU Accession Process? SME Information Portal at corporate level

Data on industry; – By sector – By city – By employment – By foreign capital What do we do for the EU Accession Process? Industrial Database at corporate level

There is a gap between the graduates the education system is supplying and the industry is demanding. TOBB Vocational Education Commission has been established and an interim report prepared and submitted to the Ministry of National Education. A seminar on Vocational education has been currently cunducted – (TOBB-TAIEX) What do we do for the EU Accession Process? Vocational training at corporate level

What do we do for the EU Accession Process? Accession Process Secretary General Dep. Secretary General Head of EU Department TOBB Brussels IKV TOBB ETU Working Group – Free Movement of Goods Composition of the Working TOBB staff (coordinator); sectoral representatives; chamber representatives; IKV; TEPAV; TOBB ETU Groups - Working Group – Public Procurement Working Group – Enterprise Policy Working Group – Custom Union Working Group – IPR

Some Global and regional projects of TOBB

In Turkey- Europe Documentation Centre / “EU i” - Meeting/ seminars to understand the EU Accession process - National Media Education Programme - Local Media Education Programme INEUINEU EU Institutions- EU Council (meetings with head of states and governments) - European Commission (visits, meetings, Window to Turkey etc.) - European Parliament (visits, meetings) - European Economic and Social Committee (Turkey-EU JCC) Member States- Bilateral chambers / platforms & business councils, chamber twining, - Meetings with Government representatives and officials from member states) - Visits from and to National Chamber Organizations; Joint events, Organisations & think tanks - EUROCHAMBRES; OECD; INEA; VEF, TEPAV Talking Turkey Project What do we do for the EU Accession Process? TOBB EU Communication Strategy

-Limited access to the documents of negotiation process (we can have access to only certain parts of the screening report; we cannot see even the “draft” version of the negotiation position document). -No “institutionalized” mechanism which enables the business community to intervene the accession process. Failures of TOBB in the EU Accession Process