What is the European Union?
The European Union (EU) is a political and economic union of 27 member states established by the Treaty of Maastricht (1992) and currently governed by the Treaty on European Union (TEU) and Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). The EU operates a single market with free movement of goods, services, capital and people, and a common regulatory framework shaped by the European Commission, Parliament and Council.
EU legislative instruments
EU law operates through Regulations (directly applicable in all member states), Directives (requiring national transposition) and Decisions. The principle of supremacy of EU law means that, in areas of EU competence, EU rules prevail over conflicting national rules.
Key EU frameworks for businesses
For international businesses — including those headquartered in Türkiye serving EU customers — the most consequential EU regimes include the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Digital Services Act (DSA) and Digital Markets Act (DMA), the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), the EU AI Act, EU competition law (Articles 101–102 TFEU and the Merger Regulation), and the EU sanctions regime administered by the Council and Commission.
Extraterritorial reach
EU law frequently applies extraterritorially: GDPR Article 3(2) covers controllers and processors outside the EU that offer goods or services to, or monitor the behaviour of, EU data subjects. MiCA, DSA and the AI Act use similar market-targeting tests. Non-EU companies typically appoint EU representatives, restrict offerings, or build EU compliance programmes accordingly.
Türkiye and the EU
Türkiye is an EU candidate country and a customs-union partner since 1995. While not subject to direct EU regulation, Turkish exporters and digital service providers regularly interact with the EU acquis through customs harmonisation, GDPR-aligned data protection (KVKK), and EU competition assessments in cross-border transactions.