The Impact of International Organizations in a Global Economy

The concept of regionalization is the political administrative process of the regions for economic and political activities and welfare and service delivery (Magel, 2011: 1). It is also used to refer to the formation of political groups or blocks aimed at reducing regional barriers to trade and investment (Haggard, 1993: 48-49). It is the result of political, economic, ethnic, cultural closeness and cooperation efforts with the participation of states and non-state actors. Regionalization is the concentration of trade in goods and services, the means of production and the economic, political and social activities of individuals in a particular region or country (Shujiro, 2019).

In the historical development process, the first wave of regionalization emerged in the 1950s and 1960s as a result of the effects of the World War II. The first regionalization activities with a focus on economy, politics and security were mostly influenced by geographic and strategic factors. The European Economic Community (EEC), the GATT and NAFTA have played a leading role in regionalization. The second wave of regionalism emerged in the 1980s and showed more influence after the Cold War. Economic, environmental and cultural factors are more predominant (Erol, 2006: 8).

The first wave regionalization was created by the developing countries in the Cold War political environment, which is generally close to each other in the framework of a bipolar world order. The second wave regionalization is composed of developed countries, in a world order shifting to multipolarity. In the new wave, the parties are not limited to the reduction or removal of traditional trade barriers, as in the former regionalization; it also tends to harmonize other trade and economic regulations and policies. Cooperation on many issues such as intellectual property rights, investments, transportation and communication issues, public procurement, competition and state aids come into question (Çalışkan, 2011: 5-7).

The importance of regionalization in terms of global political economy is the impact of economic and political regionalization on the international system. The first stage of economic regionalization is that a group of national states form a system of markets that are larger and more tightly connected, giving less importance to their national borders with economic objectives. These systems include free trade zones and customs unions. The next stage is the economic union (Balaam & Dillman, 2015: 395-397). The actors involved in economic regionalization create a common market by liberalizing and standardizing the circulation of goods, services and means of production within the regional structure in which they are involved.

Political regionalization means that the actors group together to leave some of their sovereignty to the management of the regional structure and to meet in a common denominator in political decisions. It can also be defined as the establishment of regions with political powers, the characteristics of which are determined by the constitution regarding the institutional and powers (Özel, 2003: 110). The most important objectives here are not to be alone in regional and global political discussions and to combat political inadequacies, to meet the interests of states through regional structures and to reach a stronger position in the international system through the alliance established.

The concept of globalization, which Immanuel Wallerstein claims to have existed for nearly 500 years (Wallerstein, 2004: 123-124), which has been used frequently since the 1980s, refers to a complex world system that intertwines beyond individualization and nationalization (Erdağ & Peker, 2017: 212). The OECD refers to globalization as an internationalization of markets, means of production, financial systems, competition, corporations, technology and industries for goods and services (OECD, 2013). According to the IMF, it is the historical process in which the economies of the world, goods, services and capital are integrated with the world by providing free circulation by crossing borders (IMF, 2008: 2).

Martin Albrow (1990) argued that globalization refers to all the processes in which the peoples of the world are incorporated into a single world society. Robert Cox (1994) defined the internationalization of production, the new international division of labor, the new migration movements from the south to the north, the new competitive environment accelerating these processes and the internationalization of the state as a feature of the globalization trend (UNESCO, 2019). In a nutshell, globalization is a concept based on the interdependence of economy, politics, culture and means of production rather than being national elements and becoming international due to the development of communication and communication in the age of technology.

In terms of the global political economy, some of the most important benefits of globalization are the realization of the free trade of goods and services between countries, the free movement of means of production, the production and use of technology, the transformation of industrial relations and the emergence of new forms of employment (Elçin, 2012: 5). The increase in global access leads to an increase in competition while reducing costs and prices. Thus, diversification of goods and services and economic growth are paved. Moreover, thanks to globalization, international cooperation increases. International aid and support services expand across countries, especially through international organizations operating globally. Interaction of people creates a global cultural element and the decline of nationalism contributes to the security and peace of the countries (Zobair, 2019). It is argued that globalization has its advantages as well as its disadvantages. Although competition can be seen as a benefit for consumers, it may require struggle in terms of the producer. Moreover, as seen in the examples of the global economic crisis, economic problems in a country can easily spread to other countries and spread to the global scale. Apart from these, due to globalization, the distinction between the north and south has become more visible and the idea that the rich become richer and the poor become poorer became widespread. For the developed countries, the biggest problem is the loss of jobs and the transfer of jobs to lower-cost countries. In fact, as in the case of China, there are risks such as technology copying and theft. In addition to these, multinational corporations expanding with globalization can also be seen as a threat by the ability to put pressure on countries in terms of politics (Collins, 2015).

While ideas for the unification of Europe have been around for a long time, the end of the World War II with a major destruction in Europe has been a turning point. In this context, Jean Monnet, in 1946, introduced a plan that included European economic, political and cultural unification and the establishment of the United States of Europe, the liberalization of trade and the establishment of economic and political ties between Europe and the United States (Akalın, 2006). This plan was based primarily on the idea that political integration would take place in Europe after the economic integration. In accordance with Jean Monnet’s plan, Robert Schuman announced a declaration on the establishment of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in 1950. In the context of the Schuman Declaration, on 18 April 1951, the Treaty of Paris was signed between France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg, and the ECSC was established (Akdemir, 2014: 47- 48). Thus, the first step was taken towards the free movement of coal and steel. Coal and steel, the raw materials of war, has become the tools of peace and 6 European states, with their free will, transferred some of their sovereignty to a supranational institution.

Following the unsuccessful European Defense Community initiative, the EEC and the European Atomic Energy Community were established in 1957 under the Treaty of Rome. In addition, the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Council, the Court of Justice and the Court of Auditors were formed to conduct the functioning of the community. In 1967, these three communities were merged with the Treaty of Fusion and became the European Community (EC) (Soyaltın, 2015: 13).

Although the Customs Union was completed in 1968, due to various economic problems in the international system, the common market phase could not be reached. Based on the White Paper of the Commission prepared in 1985, the Community has set itself the target of establishing a single market by January 1, 1993. In this context, the Single European Act came into force in 1987 (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2013).

In 1992, the Treaty of Maastricht, also known as the Treaty of the EU, was signed and entered into force in 1993 and the Community was renamed the European Union. Thus, the institutional structure was changed and a roof organization was established on three pillars. The first column is the European Communities, focusing on economic, social and environmental issues and giving supranational powers. The second column envisions the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and the third pillar envisions intergovernmental cooperation on Justice and Home Affairs (Can, 2013: 43-44).

The EU organized a summit in Amsterdam in 1997 and the objectives of addressing the deficiencies of the Maastricht Treaty were defined as the Amsterdam Treaty. The establishment of the European Security and Defense Identity has been given importance, changes have been made regarding the institutional structure of the CFSP, the decision-making process and the types of savings, and a CFSP High Representative has been identified. It was decided to evaluate the Petersberg Missions (humanitarian aid and rescue, peacekeeping, intervention in crisis management and attempts to ensure peace) within the scope of CFSP (Özdal, 2008: 5). As a result of the agreement signed at the Nice summit held in 2000, changes were made in the size and composition of the Commission, in the Council of Ministers, the weight of votes, decision-making procedures and strengthened cooperation in the institutional structure (Akdemir, 2014: 54).

In 2004, the EU member states signed a Constitutional Treaty for Europe. However, this draft did not come into force after France and the Netherlands rejected the constitution draft for various reasons. In 2007, the Lisbon Treaty, which was a reform treaty to replace the constitution, was signed between the member states and entered into force in 2009. With the Treaty of Lisbon, a more democratic and transparent EU has been established. Freedom and principles contained in the Charter of Fundamental Rights which promote the values of the EU are guaranteed. Innovations have been made in the institutional structure. The powers assigned to the EU have been authorized to sign international treaties or to participate in an international organization in their field (European Parliament, 2018).

The EU has been founded on certain values and has taken its current form. It has the basic principles it expects from member states in order to ensure full integration. These principles defined in Lisbon Treaty: human dignity, freedom, peace, democracy, equality, the rule of law, respect for human rights and minority rights. These values are common to the Member States in a society in which pluralism, non-discrimination (EUR-Lex, 2007). In summary, as can be understood from the articles of the agreement, these principles briefly cover principles such as cohesion, equality, peace, freedom of movement, solidarity, respect for national identity, security, commitment to law, and transnationalism.

• Strengthening the European economy.
• As experienced in the World War II, the prevention of policies of Germany or another European state to take over Europe through force and violence.
• The prevention of the distribution policies of the USSR.
• The need for a political unity in Europe to be a third power between the US and the USSR in the bipolar international system (İnat, 2005: 6; Akdemir, 2014: 44)

The Treaty of Paris signed on April 18, 1951 between Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands established the ECSC, which subsequently became part of the EU. The first enlargement of the EU took place in 1973 with the participation of England, Ireland and Denmark. Greece in 1981, Spain and Portugal in 1986, Sweden, Finland and Austria in 1995 joined the EU. In 2004, Poland, Hungary, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Slovakia and South Cyprus, in 2007 Bulgaria and Romania became members of the EU. Croatia also became a member in 2013, the number of EU member states reached 28.

In the process of enlargement, a state is expected to meet certain conditions for membership to the EU. At the European Council meeting in Copenhagen in 1993, accepted into full membership of a candidate country to the Union to implement necessary political and economic criteria were defined. Accordingly, the criteria are as follows: Political criteria: the existence of institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights and minority rights. Economic criteria: the existence of a functioning and free market economy that can also withstand competitive pressures and other free market forces within the Union. The adoption of community legislation: To have the capacity to fulfill the obligations required for membership in order to adhere to the objectives of the political, economic and the monetary union (Erdemir, 2015).

The European Commission presents “progress reports” once a year in the process of alignment with the Copenhagen criteria and evaluates the candidate country’s compliance with the criteria and the EU acquis until the negotiations are concluded.

It is composed of ministers serving in the governments of the member states of the EU. The national interests of the member states are protected. The relevant ministers representing the member states shall take part in the decision on the subject. There are various committees and working groups, particularly the Permanent Representative Committee (Coreper), to assist the council in its work. The council ensures harmony between the economic policies of the member states. In particular, member states are authorized together with the EU summit to determine the policies of the Union towards the common foreign and security policy area. It approves the budget together with the European Parliament. On behalf of the EU, they sign international agreements with third countries and international organizations (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2015).

The alliance between China and the USSR, which started with the Korean War, has deteriorated in the short term due to many political reasons. On the one hand, the period of Stalin’s death in 1953 and the period of “de- Stalinization” / “revisionism”, which began with Kruschev, and on the other hand, the ideological ideas created by the Cultural Revolution in China have brought relations to a certain degree of “hostility”. Moreover, in the period leading to the invasion of Afghanistan by the USSR, the effort to organize significantly in the region was almost impossible. China’s idea of not being involved in regional politics, including world policy, and the USSR’s international relations as one of the two main poles of the world, and its fundamentally European-based conduct (the Warsaw Pact) have eliminated the political infrastructure of a regional organization.

This situation has gradually changed in the last periods of the Cold War. The first change was in China. The Cultural Revolution, which caused great problems with the USSR and the Western world in foreign political relations and caused economic, political, social and cultural turmoil in domestic relations, ended with Mao’s death. With the decisions taken at the 11th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, held in 1978, a period of “reform and outreach” was initiated. In this context, the mixed economic and political system called “China-specific socialism”, ie “state capitalism”, was adopted. One of the most important reasons for China’s presence in the international system starting from its own field has been the search for raw materials and markets for new economic policies. This search was an important determinant for China in the process leading to the establishment of the SCO.

With the end of the Cold War, the Russian Federation (RF), which in a sense replaced the USSR, caused the world to change its view of the West or at least the Western political conjuncture to a great extent. Great steps have been taken to be part of the “capitalist” system in the economic sense. However, in the short term, RF did not abandon the historical continuity of the USSR in military and political terms. In the development of this period and the post-Cold War conditions, the two countries declared each other a “strategic partner” in 1996, and carried their bilateral relations to a new stage with their joint exercise in 1999. At this stage, the two countries have started to show that they are the leading country in regional integration. With the participation of the presidents of the two countries, and the leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, the so-called Shanghai Five was established with the Treaty on Deepening Military Trust in Border Regions signed in Shanghai on 26 April 1996.

This was followed by the Treaty on Reduction of Military Forces in Border Regions signed in Moscow on 24 April 1997. Following this treaty, summits were held in the capitals of the three other states respectively. At the summit held in Shanghai in 2001, with the participation of Uzbekistan, a decision was made to institutionalize the structure of an intergovernmental organization, and the six-member of SCO was officially established with a declaration issued on June 15, 2001. RF and China, the leaders of the organization, signed the Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation in July 2001, one month after the establishment. The founding text of the organization (SCO Charter) was signed at the summit held in Saint Petersburg in June 2002, and thus the principles, objectives, objectives, structure and operation of the organization have been shaped.

The Shanghai Five, founded in 1996 by Russia, China and three independent Central Asian countries, to achieve both common goals and their specific goals, and to solve their problems, in which the summit meetings held every year at the level of heads of state and the decisions taken at these summits are very important in terms of understanding the overall framework of the organization and reading its basic goals. The summits formed the institutional structure of the Shanghai Five and the purpose of its establishment, and in a sense, the constitution of the organization was created.

Turkey is a country which, in its geopolitical position, at the crossroads of Asia and Europe, and is especially trying to carry out its political and economic development in this context. Turkey is a founding member of the UN and a member of NATO since February 18, 1952. In addition, Turkey has been conducting accession negotiations with the EU since 1959. Turkey has started to focus on alternative integrations, as negotiations with the EU have somehow failed to result in a positive outcome, and in the face of internal and external threats, Turkey has not received enough assistance from the UN, NATO, and the EU. SCO is perhaps one of the most important of these options (Kartal & Sofyalıoğlu, 2011: 24). In order to assess Turkey’s relations with the SCO member states, firstly we need to look at its historical relationship with the region of Turkistan. First, we must say that until the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, Turkey has not established a healthy relationship with the Turkistan States in the economic and political field. Moscow’s attitude has had a significant impact on this, and it can also be seen from economic data. The first commercial activity with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, which we also call the Turkic Republics, started in 1992, after they declared their independence, with about 186 million dollars. This rate increased to 577 million dollars in 2000. In 2014, this volume increased to about 9 billion dollars. Thus, it is understood that the commercial relations between Turkey and Turkistan started only after the disintegration of the USSR. The political distance has also been clearly reflected in the economic data. After the dissolution of the USSR, and at the request of President Turgut Ozal, Turkey established communication with the region, and wanted to pursue the opportunity to lead the region (Sagbansua & Can, 2011: 80). If we look at Turkey’s economic relations with SCO members, we see that Turkey’s foreign trade volume, which was 8.3 billion dollars in 2000 with SCO, rose to 85.6 billion dollars on average, according to 2014 data. The SCO’s share in Turkey’s foreign trade is 21.4% (Işık, 2016: 157). Turkey is trading mostly with Russia, China, Iran and India among SCO countries (Eren, 2017: 86).

Many steps were taken to ensure the smooth functioning of the international economic system after the establishment of the UN in World War II. With the experience gained after the 1929 crisis, the issues of lifting barriers to international trade, reducing customs tariffs and similar measures have been raised in the Economic and Social Council under the UN. Following this process, it was aimed to prepare a draft text for the establishment of the so-called International Trade Organization (ITO), and to establish the ITO in the UN Conference on Trade and Employment in Havana in 1947. The Congress’s disapproval and concerns of trade unions and farmers about agriculture prevented the US from approaching the idea of liberalization of foreign trade under a corporate body like the ITO. This political attitude of the US has also affected other countries. ITO has not been established. Thus, one foot of the institutional structure which is designed to be composed of 4 organizations (UN, IMF, World Bank and ITO) which will ensure international political and economic cooperation is incomplete. In the same years, 23 countries, led by the US, Canada and the UK, came together in Geneva to agree on the reduction of tariffs in the trade of certain goods and not to increase the current tariffs. The GATT was signed on 30 October 1947, and entered into force on 10 January 1948. From 1948 to January 1, 1995, GATT, which has been accepted by many countries, has been the only multilateral contract to regulate international trade. 128 countries have joined the GATT until the WTO was established. The period in which GATT was in force coincided with the Cold War period. The entry into force of the GATT, which will form the free trade order after the World War II, corresponds to one year after the adoption of the Marshall Plan and one year before the establishment of NATO.

Objectives of WTO are as follows: raising the living conditions of the member states, provide full employment, ensuring the steady growth of real income, supporting the market demand of member states, improving the production of goods and services, expanding their trade and to do this by ensuring optimal use of world resources in accordance with the target, protecting the environment and finally developing its own resources to meet the needs of member states at different economic levels (Ertürk, 1993: 225). While implementing the trade policies, WTO is acting in the light of the fact that it has made transparent, predictable and indifferent arrangements. The system allows other members to complain to the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB), which is an administrative solution body for dispute resolution, when the commercial arrangements of the member states do not comply with the WTO rules.

The WTO has two main objectives. The first is to enable member states to reduce the barriers that make it difficult for other member states to enter their markets for the free movement of goods and services on the international level, and second, to resolve disputes between member states that do not comply with these rules within the scope of the DSB (Emek, 1991: 1).

Under the Marshall Plan, OEEC (Organisation for European Economic Cooperation) was established in 1948 for the reconstruction of Europe, which was devastated during the World War II, and in 1960, with the participation of Canada and the US, gained global prominence. Following the completion of the OEEC, the OECD was established in 1961, which was more comprehensive and more functional than its successor. The foundation agreement of the OECD was signed in Paris on 14 December 1960. The OECD has 20 founding members. These are; USA, Austria, Canada, France, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany, Italy, England, Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, Greece, Switzerland, Sweden, Spain, Iceland, Norway, Portugal, and Turkey (https://www.diplomasi.net/ekonomik-isbirligi-kalkinma-teskilati-oecd/ DoA: 29.01.2019).

The mission of the organization is defined as: working with governments to understand what drives economic, social and environmental change, measuring productivity and global flows of trade and investment, analyzing and comparing data to predict future trends, setting international standards on a wide range of things, from agriculture and tax to the safety of chemicals. It also looks at issues that directly affect everyone’s daily life, like how much people pay in taxes and social security, and how much leisure time they can take. It compares how different countries’ school systems are readying their young people for modern life, and how different countries’ pension systems will look after their citizens in old age, and so on (http://www. oecd.org/about/ DoA: 29.01.2019).

Turkey’s membership to the OECD, which is one of the twenty founding members, could have explained through simply political reasons for many years, but in recent years, it has gradually started to gain an economic meaning in accordance with the organization’s core functions. Turkey, like other programs, contributes to the creation of OECD programmes, policies and priorities. The fact that the organization works with the voting system allows each member to take into consideration its own interests in the search for common interests. One of the most striking examples of the current cooperation between Turkey and the OECD is the OECD Istanbul Private Sector Development Center, which was established in 1994 with the decision of the OECD Council. The training programs of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization members’, and Caucasian, Central Asian, Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, and South East European countries’ private sector and government representatives are organized in cooperation with OECD and TIKA (Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency). To date, approximately 3,000 people have received training at the Center in the legal and structural areas of the private sector. The Center contributes to the dissemination of OECD norms in the above-mentioned regions and the development of cooperation between the private sectors of the region. The Center has a function in the regional sense, increasing the cooperation among the private sectors, strengthening the economic and political independence of the countries in Central Asia and the Caucasia and integrating them with the world economy. It is thought that the increasing interest of the OECD in Central Asia and the Caucasia will increase the effectiveness of the Istanbul Private Sector Development Center in the coming period as well as its visibility within the OECD. On the other hand, the OECD Ankara Multilateral Tax Center, established in 1993, provides tax training to senior tax officers of developing countries under the leadership of OECD member states in order to provide technical assistance in the process of transition to the market economy. Today, Turkey has achieved significant progress towards integration with the world and especially with the Western economies. One of the main goals of Turkey is to accelerate the opening and integration process in line with the principles of free market and competition. In light of this approach, the value of Turkey’s OECD membership has increased even more. Turkey’s membership, first of all, allows it to closely monitor the rapid developments in the international economic field and to contribute to the common policy determination with its Western partners. Moreover, and more importantly, it is easier to use the information and brain power and knowledge of the OECD to respond dynamically to the requirements of our time, and to facilitate the implementation of country policies in a more healthy and effective manner. In today’s international order based on mutual dependence, the differences between domestic and foreign economic policies have gradually decreased. In this respect, it is doubtless that the OECD, in which Turkey is with the most advanced and modern countries, is a very important reference source and guiding environment in Turkey’s efforts for stable and continuous economic development at national level (http://www.mfa.gov.tr/ekonomik- isbirligi-ve-kalkinma-teskilati.tr.mfa DoA: 29.01.2019).

The study showing the most popular definition and strategy was carried out by Sundaram and Black (1992). According to Sundram and Black, the strategy of MNCs is defined by two main definitions. The first is the multi-resource of the external authority, and the second is the very determinant of the values. Before MNCs invest in a country, they look at the country’s multi-source and multivalence levels. Considering the opportunities and risks in a country, they decide whether to enter or not. MNCs, although at high risk, enter into foreign markets due to new opportunities. Globalization has a decreasing effect on multivalence and multi-resource levels. For this reason, foreign activities of MNCs will continue until differences in market structures, nations, ethnic structures, languages, customs and legal systems are eliminated. The abolition of these will bring an end to the nation states. So the level of full globalization will be a level in which these corporations are not in and out of foreign countries, and everything becomes homo economicus. When examining MNCs, it is useful to know that they are capable of monopolistic competition. Such corporations or enterprises are the engine powers of the economies of scale. Therefore, they will need to expand their markets to increase production levels and thus to achieve high profits. Thus, it is possible to say that they have an expansionist characteristic. The policies and strategies pursued by multinational corporations differ in terms of the countries they enter, and they threaten the nation states with their rapid growth (http://www. akademiktisat.net/calisma/ kuresellesme/cus_ acilma_dozyakisir.htm DoA:29.01.2019).

A generally accepted definition of MNCs has not been made to date, despite the increasing importance of them against nation-states. The reason for this is that multinational corporations are found in structures that cannot be homogenous. Richard Robinson, who examined multinational corporations in terms of their historical development, described these corporations as follows: International Corporation: After a strong settlement in one country (parent company), the corporation is settled in other countries based on centralized management (subsidiary company). Multinational Corporation: It is the corporation whose managers distribute their corporation resources regardless of their country’s identity in order to profit. Transnational Corporation: Although it is a multinational corporation, it is the corporation which its shareholders and managers have different nationalities. Supranational Corporation: It is the form that the transnational corporation will take in the future. The corporation shall be registered and audited by an organization established by an international agreement and shall pay its tax there and thus lose its nationality legally (Robinson, 1972: 67-79).

The OECD, which is the forum of the countries that produce about three-quarters of the world economy, is an international organization that makes continuous evaluations and recommendations about its progress in the world economy with its approaches and activities. These activities, which are supported by the analytical and statistical studies of the experienced and effective Secretariat, have been able to influence the organization to adapt to changing conditions, and to change conditions over time. For example, in parallel with the globalization trend in today’s world, OECD is the only organization that deals with economic and social issues in a way that takes into account the interaction between them. It is possible to list the main areas and issues where the OECD has been working today and established committees on under the following headings:

Regular review of the economic status of OECD member countries, Environment, Food Safety, Agriculture and Fisheries, Biotechnology, Competition and Regulatory Reform, Good Management, Anti-Bribery, Sustainable Development, Education, Trade and Electronic Commerce, Labor and Unemployment, Energy, Industry, Finance and Investment, Economic Growth, Health, Information and Communication Technologies, Insurance, International Migration, Combating Money Laundering, Statistical Data, Tax, Transport.

The highest decision-making body of the OECD is the Council. The Presidency is carried out by the Secretary General of the organization. The Council meetings are attended by the Permanent Representatives of the member states, as well as the Representative of the European Commission. Once a year, the Council meets at the Ministerial level at a date before the G-7 summit, bringing together the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Economy, Finance and Trade of the member states, and other relevant Ministers and senior bureaucrats. These meetings allow the exchange of views on current issues of the Member States and the necessary decisions to be taken. The Council approves the individual annual work programs of both the Organization in general and the OECD committees. From time to time, various committees hold meetings at the level of their respective ministers. Ministers of Environment, Energy, Finance, Trade, Social Security, Transport, and Agriculture are gathering in OECD forums.

The meetings of the organization, which are attended by some 40,000 government representatives annually within the structure of more than 200 committees and working groups, are aimed at creating the necessary conditions for implementing policies, beyond the research of them. In this context, in addition to the joint examination of member states’ policies in both general and specific economic and social fields, legal binding agreements are becoming increasingly important in the context of the OECD.

There are two important institutions within the OECD. International Energy Agency (IEA) and the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA): IEA was founded in 1974. Turkey is a founding member of the agency. The main aim of the organization is to be prepared for the crises that may take place in the oil market and to increase the solidarity between member states and to ensure energy security. It is an organization that obliges member states to keep oil stocks. The NEA works for the peaceful development of the nuclear energy production of the member states and tries to harmonize the decisions made by the member states in the nuclear field. The TUAC and the BIAC are the committees established to coordinate business and employers with the OECD. TUAC was established in 1948 with the Marshall Plan, as a Trade Union Committee. The Committee is recognized by the OECD as the representative of the trade unions of the member countries and is utilized by the Secretariat in areas such as international investments and multinational corporations, employment, labor and social affairs. Türk-İş is a member of the Committee from our country. BIAC was established in March 1962 as an independent organization. The Committee is formally recognized by the OECD as the representative of the business world and industry, and is composed of representatives of OECD member countries in this field (http:// www.mfa.gov.tr/ekonomik-isbirligi-ve-kalkinma-teskilati.tr.mfa DoA: 29.01.2019).