Brussels, 27/11/2015 (Agence Europe) - At a summit in Brussels on Sunday 29 November, the EU and Turkey will try to reach agreement on a joint statement on action to be taken by either side to deal with the flow of refugees to the EU, but they are not expected to give practical details at this stage.
The President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, said the summit he had convened aimed to provide an answer to the refugee crisis and help Turkey manage the flow of Syrian refugees in its land by educating children or arranging job opportunities (EUROPE 11437). The meeting also aims to breathe new life into relations between the two blocs and open new chapters, in time, in the accession process. Chapter 17 might be discussed, which deals with economic and monetary policy.
The EU's negotiating position still needed fine-tuning on Friday 27 November at a meeting of ambassadors, but the idea is to reach agreement on €3 billion for NGOs or other bodies in Turkey taking care of the well-being of the 2.5 million Syrian refugees who have arrived in the country. The Commission suggested a 'facility' instrument on 25 November to mobilise the money rapidly and suggests €500 million from the European budget, along with a country-by-country breakdown of the European budget.
A diplomatic source said on Friday that agreement had not yet been reached on how the new financial commitment would operate or for how long (the EU is talking about a one-off payment, Turkey wants €3 billion a year). This question might not even be decided upon on Sunday.
Recommendation on the visa question in the autumn of 2016?
Another commitment whose details are unlikely to be decided upon on Sunday is that of visas. Europe is expected to agree to facilitate the process of visa liberalisation but the actual decision is not expected until the end of 2016. The above source says the Commission will not publish a report on the criteria that would allow visa liberalisation until March 2016. It should have published it in December 2015, but the process was held up by the elections in Turkey. If all goes well, the Commission would recommend to the Council of Ministers in the autumn of 2016 that work should advance with Ankara on moving towards a visa-free system, but the decision would remain in the hands of the member states. A positive decision would not be made until the EU is certain that Turkey is fully applying the illegal immigrant readmission agreement signed in 2013.
Another question to be settled on Sunday is the format of EU-Turkey meetings in the future, since Turkey wants regular meetings or even summits, but Europe is not necessarily unanimous about this.
The hot potatoes of respect for the rule of law, terrorism and an anti-IS coalition (Turkey shot down a Russian plane this week) are not on the official agenda, and the meeting is only due to last three hours. Only the Turkish prime minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, is expected to attend at this stage. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)