Türkiye takes step toward joining SEPA

ISTANBUL  

Türkiye has submitted a letter of intent to join the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), taking an important step toward financial integration, Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek has announced.

Once completed, SEPA membership will make cross-border payments faster, cheaper and safer for businesses and citizens on both sides, Şimşek wrote on social media after a meeting with EU Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis in Istanbul on July 2 for the Türkiye-EU High-Level Economic Dialogue.

EU membership remains Türkiye’s strategic objective, Şimşek stressed. “Our partnership is already strong. Bilateral trade reached a record $233 billion last year, while two-way investment has exceeded $200 billion since 2003. We are not just trading partners. We are part of the same value chains,” he added.

Türkiye has a lot to contribute to Europe’s competitiveness agenda, from new trade, energy and transport corridors to critical minerals, defense industry cooperation and reconstruction capacity, he noted.

“In a more fragmented world, we should invest in greater integration. That is why modernizing the Customs Union is a strategic priority. Expanding it to cover services, agriculture, public procurement and digital trade could unlock around 400 billion euros in additional trade potential,” Şimşek said.

“We also welcomed the proposed Industrial Accelerator Act, particularly the recognition of products manufactured in Türkiye as equivalent to those originating in the European Union. At the same time, we highlighted the need to address the remaining uncertainties, especially in the automotive sector,” he added.

“Türkiye will also introduce amendments to its Public Procurement Law to ensure reciprocal equal treatment for EU firms in our public procurement market, further strengthening the legal foundation of our economic partnership,” he said.