Business leaders and diplomats used a summit in Brussels on Tuesday to push for closer economic ties between Türkiye and the European Union, again calling for a modernized customs union, a place in the bloc’s industrial supply chains and a clearer accession perspective.

Belgium’s foreign minister also voiced support for updating the over 30-year-old trade agreement.

Speaking at the EU-Türkiye Business Summit, executives and officials argued that deeply integrated economies need a political and institutional framework that reflects their commercial reality.

Foreign Economic Relations (DEIK) President Nail Olpak quoted Jean Monnet’s line that Europe will be forged in crises and will be the sum of the solutions adopted for those crises.

“We are living in such a time. And I believe deeper integration with Türkiye is one of the answers Europe needs today,” Olpak said.

Priorities

He set out three priorities for the partnership.

The first is modernizing the customs union, which he said has been the backbone of economic ties for more than three decades but no longer meets current needs. “In a world that has changed this fast, we’re missing too many opportunities together,” said Olpak. An update would open up cooperation in services, e-commerce, public procurement and agriculture.

The second is recognizing Türkiye’s place in European industry. Olpak referred to the European Union’s proposed “Made in EU” rules, or how he reframed it, “Made with EU,” saying Türkiye has been part of the continent’s supply and value chains for over 30 years. Treating Turkish-made products as part of Europe’s industrial ecosystem “without new quotas or barriers,” he argued, is critical to Europe’s own resilience and competitiveness.

The third is connectivity. Citing the war in Ukraine and instability in the Middle East, he said the Middle Corridor, which links Europe with Central Asia via Türkiye and the South Caucasus, should remain a shared strategic priority. He also pointed to emerging north-south links connecting Europe and Türkiye with Iraq and the Gulf. He said geopolitical shocks “showed why we need reliable links for transport, energy and data.”

Tying the themes together, Olpak spoke of “competition on trust,” saying trust is built through performance rather than words and that Türkiye has proven itself a dependable partner through every crisis.

Türkiye’s European journey began more than 60 years ago, he noted, and full membership remains its goal. “After so many years, we need fresh momentum,” Olpak said.

Call for clear membership signal

Mehmet Ali Yalçındağ, coordinator chair of the DEIK Türkiye-EU Business Councils, said a “clear and credible reaffirmation” of Türkiye’s membership perspective would give the relationship direction, encourage reform and strengthen confidence in Europe’s ability to act with purpose.

He noted that the heads of DEIK’s 26 business councils with EU member states wrote earlier this year to the leaders of the European institutions, asking for renewed momentum in the accession process. He also welcomed European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s recent State of the Union address, which he said put competitiveness, security, affordable energy, AI and democratic resilience at the center.

Europe “will not become more competitive by excluding Türkiye from the economic space where our businesses already work together,” Yalçındağ said, adding that it grows stronger by building on its value chains rather than drawing new boundaries through them.

He urged both sides to move beyond arguments repeated for too long, saying caution has at times replaced initiative, to the benefit of competitors. Political dialogue, credible conditionality and practical cooperation can advance together, he said, without every disagreement being resolved first.

A clear commitment to Türkiye’s European future, he added, could help open the way to a modernized customs union, easier business mobility and visas, and closer cooperation on technology, energy, transport, defense and the green transition. He closed by urging both sides to act without adding “another ‘yes, but'” to a relationship already burdened by too many.

Industrial Accelerator Act in focus

“Türkiye and the EU need each other more than ever,” said Ambassador Yaprak Balkan, Türkiye’s permanent delegate to the EU, speaking at a summit session titled “Made in Europe or Made with Europe? The Industrial Accelerator Act Revisited.”

She said Türkiye shares the EU’s goals of building more resilient industry and speeding up decarbonization, but that neither side should weaken the value chains that make both more competitive.

Balkan said much of her team’s recent work has centered on the “Made in Europe” approach, which would prioritize European-made products in public procurement and subsidies under the proposed act, and that they have been working day and night to persuade partners with facts and scientific data.

Her central argument was legal. Decision 1/95 of the Association Council, which established the customs union, provides for removing duties and non-tariff barriers on industrial goods. If the act takes shape in the way Ankara fears, she said, it could contradict existing commitments.

Türkiye’s unique relationship with the EU through the customs union must be fully reflected in the legislation, Balkan said, and if it defines which partners are covered, Türkiye must be included from the outset. Where origin requirements are met, vehicles made in Türkiye should receive equivalent treatment.

Bilateral trade between Türkiye and the EU reached a record of about 207 billion euros last year. Automotive trade alone totaled 54 billion euros, roughly a quarter of the total, making Türkiye the third-largest export market for the EU automotive industry.

About 70% of vehicle production in Türkiye rests on direct or joint investments by major European manufacturers, Balkan said, and more than half of the parts and components in a car made there are imported from the EU.

She dismissed claims that third-country goods would enter the EU through Türkiye as an “urban myth,” saying Türkiye will not become a back door for circumventing the rules and that Turkish industry also suffers from unfair competition and overcapacity.

On public procurement, Balkan said a law passed in Türkiye in July contributes to the process toward an agreement with the EU, that Ankara wants negotiations to start as soon as possible, and that reciprocity will be ensured. She added that senior executives of European carmakers have themselves lobbied for Türkiye’s inclusion.

Future cooperation, she said, should focus on joint research, advanced manufacturing, cleaner materials, batteries, circularity and skills. “Inward-looking attitudes and protectionism cannot be the solution,” she said.

Belgium: Türkiye can help reduce Europe’s dependencies

Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot also addressed the summit, saying Türkiye has an important role in helping Europe reduce its strategic dependencies, particularly in key industrial sectors.

He said shifting global dynamics, the war in Ukraine and supply chain disruptions had made Europe increasingly aware of its economic vulnerabilities.

“Türkiye has an important role to play, not only as an industrial market but also as a gateway to markets in the wider region,” he said, stressing its manufacturing capacity, industrial expertise and links to neighboring markets.

European companies are increasingly seeking reliable partners closer to home as they reconsider where to manufacture and store their goods, Prevot said, and Europe should make the most of Türkiye’s proximity, especially in sectors where it needs to cut strategic dependencies.

He described Türkiye as a NATO ally, an EU candidate country and a major industrial economy connecting Europe, Asia and the Middle East, whose capabilities could make European supply chains more resilient. He called for stronger cooperation between Brussels and Ankara in economic security, defense, innovation, clean energy and digital technologies.

“Our economic relationship should no longer be limited to buying and selling goods. We should also be developing, producing, and investing together,” he said.

Prevot also backed modernizing the customs union, which he said has served both economies for around 30 years but needs to reflect changing global economic conditions.

Türkiye logged a current account surplus of $4.05 billion (TL 199.94 billion) in August, official data shared by the country’s central bank showed Tuesday.

Excluding gold and energy, the current account indicated a net surplus of $8.2 billion during the month, the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (CBRT) said in its balance of payments data.

The surplus narrowed from $4.62 billion a year earlier as the goods deficit widened, while the services surplus increased.

The reading marked the second consecutive month in which the current account posted a surplus. Prior to that, the balance last posted a surplus in October 2025, when it stood at $477 million.

The country’s goods deficit reached nearly $3.75 billion in August, up from $2.8 billion a year earlier, the bank stated.

Meanwhile, the services surplus increased to $9.71 billion from $9.34 billion over the same period.

Travel revenues reached $7.28 billion, and transportation revenues reached $3.26 billion.

The primary income deficit edged down to $1.89 billion from $1.9 billion, while the secondary income deficit fell to $18 million from $21 million.

Direct investment saw a net inflow of $141 million in August, as nonresidents recorded a net inflow of $719 million.

Portfolio investment recorded a net outflow of $1 billion in August.

The country’s official reserves increased by $7.14 billion during the same period.

In the first eight months of 2026, Türkiye’s current account deficit widened to $31.5 billion from $19.67 billion in the corresponding period a year earlier.

The 12-month rolling deficit stood at $42.1 billion as of August, according to central bank data.

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The International Monetary Fund (IMF) revised slightly upward its outlook for the world economy growth for this year, while also warning of growing risks from rising debt, including borrowing related to artificial intelligence.

The IMF says it expects the global economy to grow at a 3.1% pace this year.

That’s up from its July forecast for 3.0% growth and well below the 3.5% expansion in 2025. Growth in 2027 should rebound to 3.4%, it said in its latest Economic Outlook.

The report, released as world economic and financial leaders gather in Bangkok for the fall meetings of the IMF and World Bank, predicts that growth in the U.S. will remain steady at 2.3% in 2026 and 2027.

Collectively, advanced economies will grow 2.1% this year, up from 2.0% in 2025. But growth is forecast to slow to 1.9% next year, it said.

The forecasts are based on a nearly 41% increase in oil prices this year, at an average of $96 a barrel. Global inflation is foreseen at 4.7% in 2026 and falling to 4.1% next year.

They also are based on the assumption that shipments of oil and gas through the Strait of Hormuz will resume by March, and that the boom in AI demand will moderate.

The boom in artificial intelligence is offsetting damage from sharply higher prices for oil and gas, IMF economists say, but it also carries risks.

Its benefits are not shared equally: the U.S. and China account for more than three-quarters of net demand for imports of computer chips and other AI-related equipment, the report said.

“The outlook is highly uneven,” Silvana Tenreyro, the IMF’s director of research, told reporters in Bangkok.

Growth is increasingly concentrated, with 32 countries accounting for 95% of global growth, the report said. That compares with 54 countries as of April.

“The global economy is not simply slowing or accelerating; rather, growth is being reallocated across countries according to their exposure to the war-induced supply shock and AI-related demand strength,” it says.

Athanasios Vamvakidis, deputy director at the IMF’s Monetary and Capital Markets Department, said an AI-related correction in stock markets is just one of the risks. Rising bond yields are another evolving problem, along with cyberthreats that could disrupt financial systems, he said.

AI’s effects on employment are another key focus of the meetings in Bangkok, which IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva described during an event Monday as “a slow moving tsunami, but a tsunami nonetheless.”

“The impact over time on jobs globally we estimate to be around 40% – jobs either augmented or downgraded or eliminated. And we are already seeing some of this impact,” she said.

Last week, the IMF chief urged countries both rich and poor to do a better job of improving their national finances, urging policymakers to do more to tame mounting levels of debt.

That’s especially true at a time of high borrowing costs, Tenreyro said.

Countries that are somewhat insulated from the energy shocks of the Iran war and that are benefiting from rapid adoption of AI are managing to keep growth on track.

Middle East contraction

But developing economies and emerging markets more vulnerable to higher costs for oil and gas will see growth slow to 3.7% this year from 4.5% in 2025, the report says. It forecasts they will regain momentum next year, expanding at a 4.4% annual pace.

The situation is much worse in the Middle East and Central Asia, where those regions’ economies are expected to contract this year before recovering to a 6.3% rate of growth in 2027.

The 21 European countries that share the euro currency are expected to grow by 1.1% this year and 1.2% in 2027.

China, the world’s No. 2 economy, is expected to expand 4.5% this year, down from 5% in 2025, in line with the government’s official target.

India is once again forecast to be the world’s fastest-growing major economy, advancing at a 7% clip, down from a sizzling 7.7% last year.

The IMF is a 191-nation lending organization that works to promote economic growth and financial stability and to reduce global poverty. At the meetings in Bangkok, finance ministers and central bank governors will assess the state of the world economy and discuss strategies to support financial stability and sustained growth.

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China’s ​deal to curb hybrid vehicle exports to the European Union is set to deal a fresh blow to electric vehicle makers that ramped up shipments exempt from the bloc’s tariffs on Chinese-made ⁠EVs as sales growth slows at home.

Beijing’s exports of hybrids ⁠to the EU’s 27 member states tripled to $7.5 billion in the first half of this year from $2.5 billion a year earlier, according to Chinese customs data. The figure was nearly nine times the $845 million exported in all of 2021.

Since the EU ​imposed additional tariffs on Chinese-made EVs in 2024, automakers have increasingly turned to plug-in hybrids, which ​are ⁠exempt from the extra duties. Weak charging infrastructure in parts of Europe has also supported demand for plug-in hybrids, which are marketed for their long range and strong fuel economy.

SAIC, BYD and Chery accounted for more than 90% of Chinese hybrid sales volume in the EU, while hybrids represented more than half of their European sales, according to Jefferies.

“It’s making life a bit more difficult for the Chinese, but…that’s not going to stop them as it happened to the electric cars,” said Felipe Munoz of Car Industry Analysis.

“Europe is going to a point where they will need to decide whether they’re doing what the U.S. is doing or just let the whole industry be bought by the Chinese.”

Deal preferable to trade war

Chinese brands captured a record 15% share of Europe’s EV market in the second quarter, up from 9.5% in the first quarter of 2024, while Chinese plug-in hybrids accounted for more than a quarter of the segment, rising sharply from just 1.7% ⁠at ⁠the beginning of 2024, according to Schmidt Automotive Research.

While European Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic said on Friday the agreement would cut the imports of “several million cars over four years,” Brussels and Beijing have yet to disclose how the arrangement will be implemented.

China’s Commerce Ministry said on Monday that the arrangement would allow continued export growth and guarantee China a quota no smaller than that granted to any other source of imports.

Renault CEO Francois Provost said on Monday the surge in Chinese hybrid imports was unsustainable for Europe, but added the agreement was preferable to a trade war and underscored the need to manage trade relations “sensibly.”

Investors largely viewed the agreement as a de-escalation of trade tensions and a sign that tariffs on Chinese hybrids may be off the ⁠table for now. Shares in BYD fell 1.8%, while Chery and SAIC rose 1.4% and 0.5%, respectively.

“Overall, we believe it is a risk-relief rally story…as the implementation rules, volume caps, price floors, carve-outs are still pending technical negotiation,” Citi analysts said.

‘Tariff risk off, quota risk on’

The rapid growth of Chinese hybrid sales has increasingly challenged European manufacturers, including ​Volkswagen, long the region’s leading plug-in hybrid seller, said Li Yanwei, an analyst at the China Automobile Dealers Association.

BYD, China’s largest hybrid vehicle ​exporter to Europe, sold more plug-in hybrids than fully electric models in the first eight months of the year, with its Seal U SUV its best-selling model, according to data compiled by Li.

Together with Chery, SAIC and Geely, the company has narrowed ⁠the gap with ‌Volkswagen, which ‌still commanded a 31.8% share of the EU plug-in hybrid market.

“Let’s see if China honors the ⁠agreement or finds workarounds, or temporary tariff exemptions,” said Michael Dunne, a consultant who ‌closely follows the Chinese automotive industry.

Analysts said the deal could ultimately accelerate Chinese automakers’ push to build vehicles in Europe, even if some manufacturers attempt to frontload exports before ​any quota system takes effect.

“I would expect this to ⁠strengthen the incentive for Chinese automakers to manufacture in Europe,” said Bill Russo, founder of Shanghai-based consultancy ⁠Automobility.

“If access through imports becomes more constrained, investing closer to the customer becomes more attractive. But localization requires capital…smaller players may reconsider their ⁠European ambitions.”

Jefferies analysts said the ​deal signaled “tariff risk off, quota risk on,” potentially pushing Chinese automakers toward higher-priced models, increasing pressure on German premium brands and accelerating plans to build more vehicles in Europe.

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Several top energy executives have been dropped from the schedule of a major summit in Riyadh, as Saudi authorities pressed ahead with the event Monday despite deadly attacks on the capital claimed ⁠by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis.

The chief executives of ⁠ExxonMobil, TotalEnergies, Shell, Chevron and BP had all been expected at the event, which began on Sunday, but were no longer on the agenda that ​conference organizers released early Monday.

“To everyone who traveled to Riyadh, ​thank ⁠you,” said Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, who opened Monday’s session of the gathering for energy policy and industry.

“You know this country is safe and that we hold your protection at whole heart…Our gathering here does not mean the risk is gone.”

Prince Abdulaziz said the events of recent weeks were serious and that the kingdom’s response must be “equally serious.”

The WPC Energy Congress was originally scheduled for April of this year, but was postponed after the U.S. and Israeli war on Iran began in late February. Saudi Arabia was named host in October 2022, the first time the event, first held in Britain in 1933, has been held in the kingdom.

Chief executives of major energy companies are a regular fixture at WPC ⁠Energy events and had been scheduled to speak on stage this week about global oil and gas markets, energy security and the energy transition.

A BP spokesperson said the company had “made every effort to participate” ​in the conference. “Unfortunately, due to travel disruption we are unable to be there in person. ​We greatly value our long-standing partnerships across the region.”

The WPC ⁠Energy ‌Congress is ‌taking place this week at a conference center some 10 kilometers (6 ⁠miles) from Riyadh’s international airport, which has been ‌attacked four times in the last week.

One person was killed and nearly a dozen hurt in a new attack ​on the airport on Sunday ⁠evening, Saudi authorities reported, a day after a strike claimed ⁠by Houthis killed 13 people and wounded more than 300, the deadliest attack ⁠in the kingdom in ​more than a decade.

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Major French supermarket chains Intermarche and Cooperative U were hit by a cyberattack that caused their refrigerators to defrost, the companies said Monday.

Some 150-200 Intermarche shops were targeted, along with almost 100 Cooperative U outlets, in the attack, the two retailers told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Paris prosecutors confirmed the attack, which reportedly also hit other major chains, and also indicated it had prompted outbreaks of fire.

BFM TV said France’s largest supermarket chain E. Leclerc was also affected, with hackers “managing to remotely trigger the forced defrosting of the refrigeration systems in numerous stores.” E. Leclerc did not immediately confirm the information.

Those branches that were affected will have to “throw away all of the products” that are fresh and frozen, Intermarche told AFP.

Specialist French retail sector news website jebosseengrandedistribution.fr said other retail giants Carrefour Market and Monoprix were affected, but the companies have yet to confirm this.

‘Unprecedented’

The chief executive of Cooperative U, Dominique Schelcher, described the attack as “unprecedented” and confirmed the cyberattack had affected refrigeration systems since Sunday night.

“Targeting equipment essential to the preservation of fresh products and to the food supply of the French people is extremely serious and is unprecedented. It is unacceptable,” he wrote on the social media platform X.

He added that the company’s teams are “fully mobilized” to restore the situation as quickly as possible.

“An investigation will be necessary to shed full light on this attack,” he added.

The office of the Paris prosecutor confirmed to AFP that an investigation has been opened into “the large-scale cyberattack affecting the refrigerators of several major food retail chains across France.”

The probe will help “identify the victims and establish the link with the damage they reported in terms of foodstuff losses and the outbreak of fires,” the prosecutor’s office said.

Intermarche condemned the food waste and financial losses resulting from the attack, without providing figures, and warned there could be issues with insurance policies which do not “cover this type” of in-store incident.

BFM TV said temperatures were “altered remotely, resulting in the destruction of stocks of fresh and frozen products.”

The incident comes against the background of growing concern over the potential havoc that can be caused in Europe in all sectors by cyberattacks by malicious actors.

President Emmanuel Macron, a strong supporter of Ukraine in its fight against the Russian invasion, last month ordered measures to protect France’s critical infrastructure from Russian “hybrid attacks.”

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