European Commissioner for Trade Valdis Dombrovskis and Turkish Minister of Treasury and Finance Mehmet Şimşek held the EU-Türkiye High-Level Economic Dialogue in Istanbul on 2 July 2026, agreeing to explore a €5.7 million platform to decarbonise Turkish industry and welcoming Ankara's interest in joining the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA). The meeting, the second since the forum was revived in 2025, comes as bilateral trade under the EU-Türkiye Customs Union reached a record €217 billion in 2025, making Türkiye the EU's fifth-largest trade partner.
The dialogue covered economic outlook, competitiveness, and supply-chain resilience amid Russia's war in Ukraine and Middle East conflicts. Dombrovskis updated Şimşek on the EU's competitiveness drive, including trade diversification, Single Market barrier removal, and regulatory simplification. He stressed that both sides benefit from each other's efforts to enhance economic resilience. The Commissioner also raised the importance of democracy and rule of law as essential for investor confidence and macroeconomic stability.
A concrete outcome was the recognition of interest between the European Commission and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to explore an agreement for up to €5.7 million to establish the Türkiye Industrial Decarbonisation Investment Platform. The platform aims to promote industrial transformation towards sustainable growth through innovation and technology development, and to enhance alignment with EU acquis and digitalisation goals.
Dombrovskis welcomed Türkiye's official expression of interest to join SEPA, which would integrate Turkish payment systems with the euro area. The dialogue also highlighted the role of international financial institutions (IFIs) in translating policy objectives into investments. Representatives from the EBRD, European Investment Bank Group, and Council of Europe Development Bank attended. Dombrovskis noted the EIB's recent re-engagement in Türkiye through clean energy and energy efficiency projects, and that Türkiye remains one of the EBRD's largest countries of operation, with over €2.7 billion invested in 2025.
The Connectivity Agenda was identified as a key area for IFI cooperation, with the Istanbul North Rail Crossing (INRAIL) project cited as a prime example of development bank coordination to reinforce logistics hubs across the Black Sea and South Caucasus. Dombrovskis and Şimşek agreed to hold the next High-Level Economic Dialogue in Brussels.