Criticism of the transformation created by the EU Green Deal in textile companies in Turkey from an evolutionary economic geography perspective

While the Paris Climate Agreement signed in 2015 differs from other agreements in terms of its comprehensiveness; The EU Green Deal, adopted in 2019, differs in terms of its locality and the presence of commercial obligations. While the textile sector, which constitutes the scope of the study, is important as it is among the top ten sectors in exports in Turkey; The EU is important as it comes first in Turkey's total exports. Based on this, this study evaluates the adaptation process of textile companies exporting to EU countries to the circular economy from the perspective of relational, institutional and evolutionary theory. It criticizes the sincerity of the actions taken and questions whether the companies turn this process into "greenwashing". In this context, face-to-face meetings were held with textile companies exporting to the EU from the Marmara region and Erzincan. An interview form consisting of seven questions was used in the interviews. Results; It was evaluated based on relational, institutional and evolutionary economic geography perspectives. In this regard, it has been observed that the EU Green Deal has put textile companies exporting to EU countries on the path to adaptation to the circular economy, created differences in the production methods and processes of the companies, and transformed the companies. It has been determined that the actions taken in some companies are carried out in an effort to "greenwash". The conceptualization of "formalization of the informal" in the study constitutes one of the original aspects of the study.