Brussels, 18/03/2016 (Agence Europe) - Meeting in Brussels on Thursday 17 and Friday 18 March, the EU28 managed to seal a deal with Turkey on the outlines of an agreement aiming to make it possible, with effect from Sunday 20 March, to return all migrants, including asylum seekers, reaching Greece illegally to Turkey. NGOs have denounced the move as a body blow to asylum law.
In exchange, the member states plan to offer resettlement opportunities for Syrian refugees currently in camps in Turkey, up to the current limit of 72,000 places. This figure corresponds to the total of the 18,000 places remaining from the voluntary resettlement mechanism adopted in July 2015 and reserve of 54,000 relocation places granted to Hungary in September 2015, but rejected by the country.
In exchange, Turkey secured assurances regarding the visa liberalisation regime, the creation of which will be speeded up between now and the end of June 2016, as long as Ankara fulfils the 72 criteria required. As regards financing, the member states have pledged to accelerate the mobilisation of the first envelope of €3 billion granted in early 2016 and a first list of specific projects in the field of health, education or infrastructure will be put together within a week, aiming to allow the first projects to start in April. An additional sum of €3 billion will be made available by 2018, when the first envelope expires and the first projects have shown positive results.
Speaking before the press, the president of the European Council, Donald Tusk, his counterpart from the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, and the Turkish prime minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, welcomed the agreement, which the last of these described as “historic”.
Basically, the agreement reached by the Europeans and the Turks means that from 20 March onwards, for every illegal Syrian migrant returned to Turkey from Greece, one Syrian migrant will be resettled from Turkey to the EU. This 'one-out one-in' mechanism will be temporary and voluntary.
But is it legal? “We have to make sure that each migrant is treated individually, that the agreement complies with all European and international laws”, Tusk reacted. The legality of the agreement is in fact one of the most controversial questions (see EUROPE 11513). This final agreement “includes the principle of non-refoulement and excludes any possibility of collective expulsions”, the Pole continued. Despite these assurances, the agreement has been criticised by several NGOs, such as Amnesty International, which feels that the EU28 have dealt a heavy blow to European asylum law.
The agreement means that any migrant arriving in Greece illegally after 20 March will have their asylum application dealt with in line with European directives. This system of systematic return will be temporary and will last as long as it takes to close down the migration route between Turkey and Greece and smash the economic model of smugglers, the Europeans hope. Migrants not seeking asylum will be sent back directly to Turkey, as will asylum seekers whose applications have been deemed not to be eligible. The eligibility of applications may be based on the European Directive (2013/32) which states that Turkey is a safe country or was the first country of entry of the asylum seeker. Turkish officials will assist the Greek authorities in this work and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees will also be involved in the process.
Davutoglu said that the figure of 72,000 persons resettled corresponds “to the number of migrants who will be exchanged in the first stage of this process”. He described it as a “preliminary quota”. Tusk explained that this threshold is “neither a limit nor a quota set in stone: it is a description of what is possible”. In the minds of many European countries, however, it is more likely to be an upper limit set using the 'one-out one-in' mechanism. “If we exceed it, this shows that the system is not working”, a diplomatic source commented earlier in the day, as the member states' aim is to ensure that the system acts as a deterrent and rapidly stems migration flows between Turkey and Greece.
The agreement also presupposes additional logistical resources, particularly in Greece, where these returns to Turkey will be operated. Juncker put at 4,000 the number of experts to be deployed in Greece. A meeting of all representatives of the member states will take place to discuss this, in Athens on Saturday 19 March. A number of countries pledged on Thursday evening to provide Athens with personnel. These experts will be led by Maarten Verwey, a senior European official already present in Greece, where he heads up the Commission's structural reform assistance service. The costs of sending migrants back to Turkey will be borne by the EU and may rise to between €380 and €400 million.
The resettlement programme for Syrians will start once the first return has been carried out and the coordination mechanism will involve the United Nations, the Commission, the member states and the European agencies (Frontex, EASO). The refugees will be prioritised on the basis of the vulnerability criteria defined by the UN. In order to create this 'reserve' of 72,000 places, the Commission will propose an amendment, at technical level, to the relocation decisions adopted in September 2015. Once the 'one-out warning' mechanism comes to an end, it will make way for the voluntary humanitarian readmission programme.
“A global and coherent response has been approved. Global, as it is of as much interest to Turkey as it is to Greece and mobilises all the European countries. Coherent, because it is a dual mechanism which means that any illegal migrant or refugee turning up in Greece will be sent back to Turkey, but in full respect of the law, in other words following a specific examination of his or her situation”, commented the French head of state, François Hollande. “France is prepared to make 200 people available to Frontex and up to 100 people for the asylum agency”.
“The agreement is a sign that Europe is capable of tackling a challenge of this scale. It is an extremely important step forward on the road to a permanent solution. Europe will succeed in getting on top of this refugee crisis, by working as 28, in cooperation with Turkey, in the spirit of a broad partnership which allows us to share the burden”, commented the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel. “All illegal migrants arriving after 20 March will be sent back to Turkey from 4 April of this year. The agreement sends out a clear message: anybody choosing this perilous route is not just putting his life in danger, the gamble will not pay off”, she added.
The Austrian Chancellor, Werner Faymann, said that “this agreement will limit illegality and reinforce legality. That is a very important point”. Our aim is to “put an end to the extremely dangerous illegal routes, in favour of a more organised one”, the Chancellor added. In passing, he attacked the German policy which he feels has led to increased crossings on the Balkans route.
“This is a reasonable agreement, which respects the law and the European tradition of defending human rights”, said the acting Spanish prime minister, Mariano Rajoy. He said that “this is the first time that we have reached a solution which seems to be definitive”. Spain, he said, made an “express reference to the individual treatment of the asylum applications, to ensure that there is no question that the migrants reaching the Greek islands will be dealt with collectively”. Matteo Renzi of Italy said that the agreement should serve as a “precedent for the African countries” as well.
In parallel to this agreement with Turkey, the EU28 also adopted broader conclusions on migration, stressing, amongst other things, in the context of the agreement with Ankara, the need to continue efforts to set in place the hotspots for the registration and identification of migrants. The text goes on to stress the need to speed up the relocation of migrants from Greece within the EU, with applications from asylum seekers now outstripping the places offered by the member states. The states are therefore urged rapidly to offer places, up to the limit of the current commitments. This limitation is of particular satisfaction to the Polish prime minister, Beata Szydlo.
Agreement to open Chapter 33 by end of June. Reaffirming their commitment to breathe new life into the accession process, the EU and Turkey also decided to open a new negotiation chapter, Chapter 33 on the financial and budgetary provisions, “during the Dutch Presidency” of the Council, in other words before the end of June. The Commission will present a proposal to open this chapter, which requires unanimity at the Council of Ministers, in the month of April. “We have a well-balanced proposal which takes account of Cypriot concerns”, Tusk said. The opening of this chapter will help to get round the problem of the five chapters on which Turkey wants to make progress “as quickly as possible”, but which are blocked by Cyprus (see EUROPE 11512). Nor is the French president opposed to opening a chapter which his predecessor, Nicolas Sarkozy (2007-2012), wanted to keep closed.
“We have decided to speed up the opening of other chapters in the coming weeks and months”, Davutoglu added. The preparatory work prior to the opening of further chapters will continue “at an accelerated pace, without prejudice to the positions of the member states in line with the rules in force”, the joint declaration reads.
“A decisive step forward has been taken to continue talks in the framework of a long and complicated process”, Renzi said. However, Hollande took pains to reiterate that “as far as France is concerned, negotiations do not mean accession”. “The negotiations in no way prejudge the result”, he added, going on to stress that 15 chapters are currently open (one of which has been provisionally closed) of the 35 chapters of the accession process. The Cypriot president, Nicos Anastasiades, said that the opening of the 14 chapters blocked by the Council of the EU or by Nicosia, due to Turkey's position towards Cyprus, “depend on Turkey alone”.
The Europeans also confirmed to Turkey once again that they would work with it in the framework of all efforts to improve the humanitarian conditions inside Syria, “particularly in certain regions close to the Turkish border” and which will allow the local population and the refugees to live in safer areas. Several thousand people are still believed to be cut off on the Turkish border, but on the Syrian side.
Clash over terrorism. In their statement, the leaders also strongly condemned the attack on Ankara on Sunday 13 March (see EUROPE 11511), which they described as a “heinous” act. They reiterated their continued support to the fight against terrorism in all its forms. The subject of terrorism led to a clash between Davutoglu on the one hand and Tusk and Juncker on the other, at their joint press conference. The Turkish prime minister criticised the fact that sympathisers of the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK), which is deemed a terrorist organisation by the EU and Turkey, are reported to have been recently authorised to fly the movement's flags close to a building of the European Commission. Juncker suggested that his words were “offensive” to Belgium. Tusk closed the debate by pointing out that “the freedom of expression is a freedom which is very important to Europe”. In separate conclusions, the Europeans pointed out that the EU expected Turkey to respect “the highest standards of democracy, the rule of law and the respect for the fundamental freedoms, including the freedom of expression” (see EUROPE 11506). (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic and Camille-Cerise Gessant with Mathieu Bion, Elodie Lamer, Pascal Hansens, Emmanuel Hagry and Aminata Niang)