The EU-Turkey Statement: A “game changer”
Besides the closing of the Balkan route in particular, the EU-Turkey Statement
of March 2016 has contributed to the easing of the situation in the eastern
Mediterranean Sea. The number of sea arrivals there decreased from about
140,000 per month in autumn 2015 to less than 2,600 p.m. On average in the
past year. The number of lives lost in the Aegean Sea has also declined
markedly.
As a result, the Commission has even gone so far as to call the
statement a “game changer”. One of the treaty’s core elements is the 1:1
mechanism. According to this mechanism, from 20 March 2016, all irregular
migrants from outside the EU and asylum seekers crossing from Turkey to the
Greek islands will be returned to Turkey, as a basic principle. As a quid pro quo,
the EU pledged that for every Syrian being returned to Turkey, another Syrian
will be resettled to the EU from Turkey.
On the basis of the statement, the EU also provides financial assistance to
Turkey to support the country in its efforts to host (Syrian) refugees. The money
goes towards material and humanitarian assistance, education, health, municipal
infrastructure, as well as measures to enhance border management and to fight
smugglers and traffickers in Turkey. In the past two years, the EU has allocated
EUR 3 bn for these purposes through its Facility for Refugees in Turkey – EUR
1 bn from the EU budget and EUR 2 bn from the member states. Meanwhile
these funds have been earmarked completely.
Therefore, in mid-March, the
Commission proposed to greenlight the second tranche, i.e. To allocate an
additional EUR 3 bn through the Facility. At the recent EU-Turkey leaders’
summit in Varna (Bulgaria) the EU confirmed this commitment. However, the
funding is still disputed. While the Commission argues for the same (1 to 2)
pattern as applied for the first tranche, member states have requested that the
total amount shall come from the EU budget.
EU Forecast
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