Summit meeting re-energises EU-Turkey relations

The summit between the EU and Turkey concluded with a joint statement containing a number of shared commitments and actions in many areas. The activation of the EU-Turkey Action Plan will bring order into refugee flows and stem irregular migration.

In their joint statement the 28 Heads of State or Government of the European Union, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker i and European Council President Donald Tusk i agreed with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu to activate the joint Action Plan and set out a number of shared commitments and actions in many areas, for example:

The opening of chapter 17 (economic and monetary policies) and the preparations for the opening of other chapters in the accession negotiations as well as further steps on visa-liberalisation and implementation of readmission agreements were agreed. The EU welcomed the Turkish commitment to accelerate the fulfilment of the Visa Roadmap benchmarks towards all Member States.

The implementation of the joint Action Plan will bring order into migratory flows and help stem irregular migration. The EU significantly expands its financial, humanitarian and socio-economic support for Syrians under temporary protection and host communities in Turkey. To this end, the EU Facility for Refugees will provide 3 billion euros.

Regular summits and high-level political dialogue will be held and cooperation on foreign and security policy, including on counter-terrorism, will be reinforced.

In the press conference following the summit, President Juncker showed himself very satisfied with the summit results and underlined that without a joint EU-Turkey response there would not be a solution to the refugee crisis. He also highlighted the enormous efforts Turkey is undertaking in hosting more than 2 million Syrian refugees on its territory. He stressed that the Commission will now prepare the agreed voluntary resettlement efforts by mid-December so that refugees from Turkey can be resettled to the EU. President Juncker finally underlined that remaining divergences, for example on the freedom of press, have not been forgotten and will continue to be tackled.