Association Committee

The Türkiye-EU Association Committee was established pursuant to Article 24 of the Ankara Agreement by the Association Council Decision No. 3/64 of 1 December 1964.

Within the framework of the Decision, the Association Committee is tasked with assisting the Association Council, examining the matters referred to it by the Association Council, and, in general, ensuring the continuity of cooperation necessary for the proper functioning of the Agreement.

The Association Council Decision No. 3/64 establishing the Association Committee was amended by the Association Council Decision No. 1/2001 of 4 January 2002, and in line with this amendment, the European Commission began to chair the Committee and provide the secretariat on behalf of the EU as of 2002.

During Association Committee meetings, officials from the European Commission, primarily from the Directorate-General for Enlargement and the Eastern Neighbourhood, as well as from other relevant Directorates-General, meet with representatives of relevant public institutions and organisations from Türkiye. In addition, representatives of EU member states and the rotating Presidency of the Council of the EU may attend the meetings as observers.

The most recent meeting of the Association Committee was held in Brussels on 28 November 2018.

Sub-committees

Sub-committees are the mechanisms set up under the Association Committee in order to monitor the progress made by the candidate country in aligning with the EU acquis within the framework of the Accession Partnership Documents.

This mechanism, which was also used by the European Commission for the fifth enlargement countries, was set up for Türkiye by the Türkiye-EU Association Council Decision No. 3/2000 of 11 April 2000. Although some temporary mechanisms were established in the past, the Sub-committees, together with the Association Council and the Association Committee, constitute the most legally robust platforms in Türkiye-EU relations.

Pursuant to the aforementioned Decision No. 3/2000, eight Sub-committees were set up in order to carry out an analytical examination of the EU acquis:

1. Agriculture and Fisheries

2. Internal Market and Competition

3. Trade, Industry and ECSC Products

4. Economics and Monetary Issues, Capital Movements and Statistics

5. Innovation

6. Transport, Environment, Energy and Trans-European Networks

7. Regional Development, Employment and Social Policy

8. Customs, Taxation, Drug Trafficking and Money Laundering

Within the scope of these eight Sub-committees, developments regarding alignment with implementation and enforcement of the EU acquis are regularly monitored, and the issues encountered are addressed at the technical level with European Commission.

The overall coordination of the Sub-committees is carried out by the Directorate for EU Affairs. Sectoral experts from relevant public institutions and organisations in Türkiye, as well as experts from the relevant units of the European Commission, attend the Committees, which generally convene once a year.

The work of the Sub-committees plays an important role in Türkiye’s alignment process with the EU acquis. It also provides the public institutions with access to accurate and direct information about the EU acquis, allows them to know their counterparts in the European Commission, and to establish effective communication channels for the follow-up of issues.