Statement
by Cecilia Malmström on the ratification of the EU-Turkey
readmission agreement by the Turkish Parliament
I welcome today's ratification by the Turkish
Parliament of the Readmission Agreement signed in December, as it
represents a significant step forward in the cooperation between the
European Union and Turkey. The Agreement reflects our shared interest
for a more effective migration and border management setting out
clear obligations and procedures for the authorities of Turkey and
the EU Member States in order to swiftly return persons who are
irregularly residing on their territories, in full respect of
international law and fundamental rights. A full and effective
implementation of the Readmission Agreement is also one of the
requirements included in the Roadmap towards the Visa-free regime
with Turkey, and today's decision by the Turkish Parliament
represents an important progress in the perspective of visa
liberalisation.
Background
On 16 December 2013, EU Commissioner for Home
Affairs Cecilia Malmström, signed in Ankara, with the Turkish
authorities, the EU-Turkey readmission agreement, and initiated,
jointly with Turkish authorities, the EU-Turkey Visa liberalisation
dialogue.
The main objective of the EU-Turkey
readmission agreement is 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 the 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 sides directly arriving from the
territory of the other side.
The provisions of the agreement related to the
readmission of the nationals of the two sides, and those related to
the readmission of the stateless persons and nationals from third
countries with which Turkey has concluded bilateral treaties or
arrangements on readmission, will enter into force on the first day
of the second month following the date on which the EU and Turkey
will notify each other that their respective ratification procedures
have been completed.
The provisions related to the readmission of any
other third country nationals, instead, will enter into force only
three years later.
The aim of the EU-Turkey visa
liberalisation dialogue is to make progress towards the
elimination of the visa obligation currently imposed on the Turkish
citizens travelling to the Schengen area for a short term visit.
The dialogue will essentially consist of a screening
of the Turkish legislation and administrative practices, which will
be carried out by the Commission on the basis of a document,
elaborated by the latter, called "Roadmap
towards the visa-free regime with Turkey".
This document lists the requirements which should be
fulfilled by Turkey to allow the Commission to present a proposal
based on solid grounds to the Council and the Parliament to amend the
EC Regulation 539/2001,
listing the third countries whose nationals must be in possession of
visas when crossing the external borders and those whose nationals
are exempt from that requirement, so as to move Turkey from its
negative to the positive list.
Among the requirements included in the Roadmap
many refer, inter alia, to 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 of the citizens and the foreigners
with a specific attention to persons belonging to minorities and
vulnerable categories.
Once the Commission considers that all the
requirements listed in the Roadmap are fulfilled and has presented
its proposal to amend the EC Regulation 539/2001,
this proposal will be voted by qualified majority by the Council of
the European Union and the European Parliament.
The Roadmap does not set a specific timetable by
when the dialogue should be completed or this proposal should be
presented, thus the speed of the process towards visa liberalisation
will depend essentially on the progress which will be made by Turkey
in addressing the requirements set out in the Roadmap.
Within the framework of the support provided through
the Instrument of Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA), the Commission will
support the legal reforms and the development of administrative
capacities which will be deemed useful to enable the Turkish
authorities to better address the requirements set out in the
Roadmap.
