OpenLobby.EU
Explore

Union des Chambres et des Bourses de Turquie

TOBB

Within the context of its organic law and other applicable legislation, TOBB aims, parallel to the developments elsewhere in the world and in its capacity of the highest level representative of the Turkish private sector, at ensuring unity and solidarity between chambers and commodity exchanges, enhancing development of the professions in conformance with general interest, facilitating professional work of members, promoting honesty and confidence in the relations of members with one another and with the general public, and preserving professional discipline and ethics.

Lobbying Activity

Meeting with Charlotte Merlier (Cabinet of Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič)

16 Oct 2025 · EU-Türkiye Customs Union and E-Commerce Dialogue

Meeting with Matthias Petschke (Director Taxation and Customs Union)

15 Oct 2025 · Meeting on the potential impact on the EU-TR customs union of the e-commerce part of the EU customs reform

Response to EU visa policy strategy

18 Sept 2025

Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye (TOBB) is the umbrella organization of the Turkish business community. We represent over 2 million companies, ranging from small enterprises to large corporations, covering all sectors of our economy in 81 provinces and 160 counties. Within this context, the most prominent issues on the agenda include difficulties in obtaining visa appointments, the high rate of rejections, the excessive amount of required documentation, and the fact that despite high visa fees, only short-term visas are issued. As a result, frequent travelers are compelled to reapply for visas within short intervals. On the other hand, TOBB has carried out a survey to identify the difficulties faced by professional drivers engaged in international road transport in obtaining Schengen visas and the consequences of these challenges. Over 200 Turkish international road transport companies participated in the survey, reporting that they encounter serious operational and financial problems due to European visa procedures. Feedback received from the companies indicates that: - Securing a visa appointment generally takes more than two months, - Processing of applications usually lasts between two weeks and one month, - The average cost of a single visa application is EUR 480, - Inability to obtain a visa results in an average monthly loss of EUR 1,700 per vehicle, - On average, companies miss 58 transport operations per year due to visa-related issues, - 79% of the companies are forced to keep their vehicles idle because of visa problems, - Nearly all companies experience difficulties in obtaining an invitation letter, - As an alternative, vehicles are sometimes left waiting at the border to be handed over to a driver with a valid visa, or the cargo is transferred to foreign trucks, yet these solutions create an additional monthly cost of around EUR 667, - Even drivers who have been working at the same company for over 10 years, carrying goods to the same country, and who previously held visas valid for one year or longer, face refusals or are granted only very short-term visas on the grounds that their reason for travel is not sufficiently convincing. These findings demonstrate that visa-related challenges impose a significant burden on the transport sector, both in terms of direct financial costs and loss of business opportunities.
Read full response

Meeting with Gerassimos Thomas (Director-General Taxation and Customs Union)

24 Apr 2024 · Physical meeting - Discussion on Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM)