Brussels, 16/12/2013 (Agence Europe) - On 16 December, Turkey and the EU signed a readmission agreement for irregular migrants, which had been suspended since the middle of 2012. The signing of this agreement comes at the same time as the launch of the dialogue on visa liberalisation, which has been eagerly awaited by Turkey and could be put into practice in 2017. On Monday morning in Ankara, European Commissioner for Home Affairs Cecilia Malmström signed this agreement with the Turkish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Ahmet Davutoglu, the Turkish Minister for Home Affairs, Muammer Güler and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
The Commissioner declared that, “today is a day of historical importance. The cooperation between the European Union and Turkey has made a significant step forward. We have started two initiatives in parallel, which will boost the relations between Turkey and the European Union and bring benefits for their citizens. I hope that the readmission agreement will now be ratified by the two sides without delay, and that the visa liberalisation dialogue will soon allow to register substantial progress”.
The Commission explained that the agreement would now be sent to the Council of the European Union, European Parliament and the Turkish Grand National Assembly for ratification. It also said that the agreement seeks to, “establish, on the basis of reciprocity, procedures for the rapid and orderly readmission, by each side, of the persons having entered or are residing on the territory of the other side in an irregular manner”.
The agreement includes provisions related both to the readmission of the nationals of EU member states and Turkey, and to the readmission of any other persons (including the third country nationals and the stateless persons) that entered into, or stayed on, the territory of either side directly arriving from the territory of the other side.
With regard to visa liberalisation, Turkey will be obliged to respect an action plan in order for these obligations on Turkish citizens to be lifted when they want to travel to the Union. The Commission explained that on the basis of a roadmap, “the dialogue will essentially consist of a screening of the Turkish legislation and administrative practices”.
This document sets out the requirements Turkey is expected to respect in order for the Commission to present a proposal amending Regulation 539/2001 on the list of third countries whose nationals have to have a visa. It subsequently places Turkey on the positive list of countries in this connection.
The requirements include, “the need to implement in a full and effective manner the readmission agreement, to manage the borders and the visa policy in such a manner as to effectively prevent irregular migration”, to have secure travel documents, to establish migration and asylum systems in line with international standards, to have functioning structures for combating organised crime with focus on migrants' smuggling and trafficking in human beings, to have in place and implement adequate forms of police and judicial cooperation with the EU member states and the international community, and to respect the fundamental rights. Turkey's progress will depend on the pace this visa dialogue assumes and its success, explained the Commission.
According to a report in AFP, Erdogan provided assurances on Monday that Turkey will meet all its commitments in the readmission agreement without fail. In a press release, the GUE/NGL said that this agreement reinforced “Fortress Europe” and expressed concern about how it would affect immigrants. According to the group, Turkey does not currently grant any protection guarantee of respecting migrants' fundamental rights.
The Greens/EFA welcomed the progress made but Hélène Flautre (France) also explained in a press release that “the readmission agreement is a high price to pay for this visa liberalization: the rapprochement between Turkey and the EU seems to come at the expense of third country nationals, migrants or refugees, who too often risk their lives on their way to Europe. This is already the case for refugees from Syria, in particular on the Turkish-Bulgarian border or in the Aegean Sea”. (SP/transl.fl)