mr president it is clear from what has been said that there is great consensus around this report
i would just like to say a couple of words on the following subjects the problems faced by turkey in concluding free trade agreements with europe's partners the visa issue and intellectual property rights ipr enforcement
to begin with the last point ipr enforcement and counterfeiting have been mentioned repeatedly during the debate
i am also concerned and the commission will continue to press on these issues
after more than two years of repeated requests turkey finally accepted recently to set up a working group to discuss ipr issues
this is a positive first step and i hope that this working group will help in making progress on these important issues
secondly on the problems faced by turkey in concluding free trade agreements turkey has been saying for years that it is suffering negative effects because of the difficulties of entering into ftas with some of the eu's fta partners
however it should be highlighted that the number of critical fta difficulties is very limited
furthermore despite repeated requests made by the commission services turkey has failed to submit relevant data that demonstrate the alleged negative effects on the turkish economy
moreover it should be noted that the commission has been acting fully within the customs union agreement and has even been going beyond its obligations already by helping turkey in starting fta negotiations with its fta partners
we are ready to further reflect with turkey on ways to address turkish concerns in this respect whether that would involve the turkish government being invited to the table of the european commission in negotiating fta agreements with third countries is of course a strictly different matter
as for visa issues these are not covered by the customs union
the commission is considering modalities to engage in a process to further simplify the mobility of people between the eu and turkey in particular by a swift implementation of the new eu visa code which will provide practical improvements for turkish visa applicants
the commission will also underline that it is committed to engage in a dialogue that may lead to further improvement of mobility once the council has given its green light to do so
however having the eu-turkey readmission agreement finalised will be a requirement for this
