On 7 February 2024, a delegation from the Turkish Ministry of Transport visited the International Union of Railways (UIC) Headquarters as part of the ATLAS “Analysis of The Transport Legislation of Türkiye in The Process of Harmonisation with the EU Acquis” Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) Project.

During the meeting the delegation gave information on the project, detailing that it was launched on 10 January 2022, and essentially aims to harmonise its national legislation with the EU Transport Acquis. In this respect, an inventory of both EU and Türkiye transport legislation was established with all legally binding legislation being analysed and compared provision by provision. At the end of this process, Gap Analysis and Gap Plugging was carried out in order to show the existing gaps and create a proposal for improving harmonisation. Work is currently underway on preparing Regulatory Impact Assessments (RIAs), in order to determine the social, technological and environmental impact of the plugging proposal in case it comes to fruition.

Moreover, the delegation shared their main project outputs with UIC, while also receiving information about the organisation to enhance cooperation. UIC’s Director of Freight, Frederic Hénon, gave a presentation on the relevant UIC activities and provided resources showcasing UIC’s expertise and experience in areas aligned with the project’s goals. UIC then shared information about membership packages and their associated benefits.