Eu Agreements With Turkey

In practice, Turkey had committed itself to controlling Europe`s borders from outside. But what has greatly reduced arrivals in Greece is not only the outsourcing of migration control to its neighbours, but also the internalisation of derogatory zones within Europe`s borders. With the closure of the Balkan route and the entry into force of the agreement with Turkey, Greece has become the final destination. Those who arrived after March 20, 2016 found themselves trapped on the islands. The European Commission said that geographical restriction was a necessary part of the implementation of the agreement to ensure that irregular arrivals are immediately returned to Turkey or its country of origin. As a result, the Greek islands have become open-air detention centres. The CONTROVERSIAL EU refugee deal with Turkey has been under way for two years. But there are still some problems, but the question of funding, in particular, is not yet fully resolved. In December 2016, the Commission proposed modernising the customs union and extending bilateral trade relations to areas such as services, public procurement and sustainable development. The Commission`s proposal was based on extensive preparatory work during 2016, including a public consultation with stakeholders, a detailed impact assessment and a study by an external consultant. However, the Council has not yet adopted the mandate. Relations between the European Union (EU) and Turkey were established in 1959 and the institutional framework was formalized by the Ankara Agreement of 1963. Turkey is one of the EU`s main partners in the Middle East and both are members of the EU-Turkey customs union.

Turkey borders two EU member states: Bulgaria and Greece. Although human rights organizations have accused it of not adequately protecting refugees, the 2016 agreement achieved one of its main goals by reducing the influx of irregular migrants into Greece from Turkey by 97%. As part of the agreement, 6 billion euros of EU funds have been spent on the needs of Syrian refugees in Turkey, including the education of more than 600,000 Syrian children of school age. At the end of February 2020, EUR 4.7 billion was allocated and EUR 3.2 billion was allocated to projects managed by UN organisations, local and international non-governmental organisations and Turkish ministries. As part of the largest humanitarian aid programme ever funded by the EU, the Emergency Social Security Assistance Network is providing cash assistance to some 1.7 million refugees. But some projects, including in the field of education, will soon be completed. Ankara lamented that the EU had been too slow to release funds and that too much money had been allocated to the overheads of international organisations, which did not concern the refugees themselves enough. The refugee crisis of 2015 had a significant impact on relations. They have become functional, on the basis of interdependence and the relative withdrawal of the EU from the political conditionality of membership.

The EU-Turkey refugee agreement of March 2016 has enabled closer functional cooperation with material and normative concessions from the EU. [45] The agreement has had obvious advantages for European states: it has extended their borders and reduced the number of refugees arriving in their countries. But it has had negative effects on thousands of refugees – and has in practice violated international law and refugee protection standards. Since then, thousands of people across Europe have been exposed in inappropriate and hostile living conditions, without access to sufficient physical, psychological and legal support. Enlargement is one of the EU`s most powerful political instruments. It is a carefully managed process that contributes to the transformation of the countries concerned and extends peace, stability, prosperity, democracy, human rights and the rule of law throughout Europe.