It was concluded in March 2016.
EU leaders instructed the head of community diplomacy Josep Borrell to find out how the agreement to combat the migration crisis, which was concluded by Turkey and the European Union in March 2016, is being implemented. This was announced to journalists on Monday by the head of the European Council, Charles Michel, after a meeting in Brussels with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan.
“We have decided to instruct [EU’s] High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell and his Turkish counterpart to work in the following days to clarify whether the deal with Turkey is being implemented and to make sure that both sides are at the same [implementation of the agreement] stage”, – he said.
According to Michel, after the fulfillment of this task, the leaders of the EU member states and Turkey will hold talks again to sum up the results.
Head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said, in turn, that Brussels and Ankara should implement the missing parts of the document of 2016.
“The agreement on migration remains in force, and we discussed how to implement its missing parts”, – she said.
When journalists asked whether the “missing parts” and the issue of visa liberalization were meant, von der Leyen replied: “Yes, we will review the entire agreement, each item is subject to discussion”.
In the midst of the migration crisis in 2016, Brussels and Ankara concluded an agreement according to which Turkey closed its borders with the EU for migrants and the community paid €6 billion for this. The EU also promised Ankara a visa-free regime, but did not keep its word, demanding Turkey first revise its anti-terrorist legislation. To date, over 3.5 million migrants have accumulated on Turkish territory wishing to enter Europe.