The Schengen ordeal in a difficult year for trade

According to a report by Bloomberg Businessweek Turkey, the visa problem between Turkey and Europe has begun to take on an increasingly frustrating form. Those who want to travel to Europe for tourism are no longer knocking on the doors of consulates for the country they prefer, but for the country from which they can actually obtain a visa. Those who manage to get one consider themselves lucky, only to be left stunned by the short duration of the permits. A similar situation applies to the business world. Responding to questions from Bloomberg HT, Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (ITO) President Şekib Avdagiç says, "We are applying for visas with an excessively exaggerated document package, in an approach that the EU countries are practically abusing in their visa processes. The evaluation of this also takes 3 weeks. Consequently, the total time spent for a visa reaches 10-12 weeks. At the end of this, rejection rates have exceeded 20 percent. While 2 to 3-year visas were easily obtained in the past, we now see that visas are being issued for much shorter periods." Europe, which is narrowing its doors for bosses and executives, continues to apply the same practice to truck drivers, making trade difficult for both sides.

Turkey makes 225 billion dollars in annual exports, and 40 percent of these exports are carried out by road. Reysaş Logistics Chairman of the Board Durmuş Döven says, "If you want to hinder a country's trade, just hinder its logistics," and explains the logistics sector's visa problem: "There are various ways to hinder this. Many countries do this as well. They impose tonnage restrictions, they create problems with fuel. For example, Greece demands its own driver's license for no apparent reason. A license that is valid everywhere in the world sometimes does not pass in Greece. There are obstacles beyond visas. But EU countries do this hindering best through visas. The driver makes a trip in 15 days, and they give a 15-day visa," he says.

The short duration of visas means that transporters have to obtain a new visa for every trip, and the increasing number of visa applications and the slow processing of procedures bring very serious time losses. After days of document collection and application processes and weeks of waiting, drivers set off with a visa for only a few days. "My driver has received a six-month visa three times, and when he applies for the fourth, he gets a rejection. It is normal to review someone applying for the first time, but for our drivers who have received visas many times, there are reviews that take days every single time. If they have received a 6-month visa twice, they should give a two-year one the next time. If the issue is collecting the 300 Euro application fee, they should adjust the visa fee accordingly and take it in one go," says International Transporters Association (UND) Vice President Fatih Şener.

News Source: 12punto