Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu, ⁇ the European Union In the Process of Compliance with the Acquis (EU) Republic of TurkeyStating that ⁇ the Analysis of Transport Legislation (ATLAS) Project ⁇ is the first study covering all aspects of transportation legislation and therefore has a special importance, ⁇ I believe that our project, which is also given great importance in the Turkey Report ⁇ published by the European Commission, will make significant contributions to all our sectors in terms of legislation compliance ⁇ he said.
Minister Uraloğlu spoke at the ⁇ ATLAS Project Closing Event held in a hotel in Ankara ⁇ . Uraloğlu, by drawing attention to the works that can be carried out in cooperation with Turkey and Avrupa ⁇ in the field of transportation for a more prosperous Europe, ⁇ We can jointly implement alternative routes that will solve the bottlenecks we encounter in order to develop international transportation. We see that our country's geo-strategic position offers us many opportunities.
⁇ TRADE VOLUME BETWEEN TURKEY AND EU 210.3 BILLION DOLLARS ⁇
Underlining that Turkey is an important trade partner for Europe, Minister Uraloğlu said that with the establishment of the Customs Union on December 31, 1995, the trade volume between Turkey and the EU, which gained great momentum, amounted to $210.3 billion in 2023. According to the international trade data of the European Statistical Office (Eurostat), Turkey ranked 6th in the ranking of the countries that export the most to EU countries. Looking at all these scopes, the depth of relations between Turkey and the European Union and the importance of cooperation are as clear as day. At this point, as I just mentioned, we should work together to solve the bottlenecks we face in international transportation issues.
⁇ 277 BILLION DOLLAR INVESTMENT WAS MADE IN THE CONTACT AND COMMUNICATION SUBJECT ⁇
⁇ WE AIM TO REMOVE THE SHARE OF THE DEMİR WAY TO 22 PERCENT ⁇
Uraloğlu said that they attach importance not only to the well-being of Turkey, but also to the well-being of EU countries and citizens, where the neighboring countries and trade relations in the region are the strongest, and we carry out many important projects together with EU institutions and share our mutual experiences, especially on the occasion of the Instrument for Pre-Accession Financial Assistance, which is one of the most important indicators of our Turkey-EU financial cooperation. At the point we have reached, we are developing projects to establish an environmentally friendly transportation system, which is one of the main priorities of our country, and to accelerate the green transformation. We closely follow and support the policies of the European Union in the fight against climate change and environmental pollution. We believe that railway transportation has an important place in ensuring an environmentally friendly transportation, especially with the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. In this direction, we aim to increase the share of railway in freight transportation from 5 to 22 percent by 2053 in line with AB ⁇ 's goal of shifting 75 percent of freight transportation on land roads to railway and inland water transportation.
⁇ I BELIEVE IT WILL PROVIDE WINNINGS ON BOTH PARTIES ⁇
Minister Uraloğlu stated that Turkey faced many political obstacles in the accession process to the EU, but continued its technical cooperation at the highest level, and I believe that maintaining our cooperation and relations, especially in the field of transportation, away from political effects, will benefit both sides in terms of our mutual interests. As a candidate country, we attach importance to ensuring the necessary harmonization with the EU in a legal sense while working for the development of our transport infrastructure. As a result of all these efforts, I think we have achieved a level required by the age in safety, security, environment and social issues. As the Ministry, we have implemented many projects on regulatory compliance so far. However, I think that the ATLAS Project is of particular importance as it is the first study to cover all aspects of transport legislation. I believe that our project, which is also given great importance in the Turkey Report published by the European Commission, will make significant contributions to all our sectors in terms of legislative compliance. At the point of harmonization of our sector with the EU acquis; I hope that they will move forward in the areas where we have differences, and that they will strive to adapt to AB ⁇ with an approach that takes our priorities into consideration.
⁇ REALIZED MEVZUAT INFORMATION SYSTEM ⁇
Uraloğlu stated that as a result of the studies, they have created a Legislation Compliance Strategy and Action Plan that includes steps that can be taken for legislation compliance in the future, and within the scope of the ⁇ Project, we have also implemented a legislation information system called ⁇ ELIT ⁇ in line with the principles of sustainability and digitalization. In this way, we will be able to access all transportation legislation from a single source and follow our compliance with AB ⁇ in a digital environment. Within the scope of the reports prepared with the perspective of full membership to AB ⁇ ye, we will work on what improvements we can make in the coming period by considering certain priorities.
