Today, the European Commission adopted its second report on the EU-Turkey Statement showing that while there has been further good progress in its implementation, progress achieved so far remains fragile. The continued successful implementation depends mainly on the political determination of all parties involved. The sharp and continued decrease of people crossing irregularly or losing their lives in the Aegean on their way from Turkey into Greece is proof of the Statement’s effectiveness so far and also shows that the business model of smugglers can be broken. Member States have also increased their efforts on resettlement – offering legal and safe pathways as an alternative. Return operations have continued to be carried out. All Member States have sent their contribution certificates for the Facility for Refugees in Turkey which will allow for the accelerated disbursement of the Facility to be delivered and the first €1 billion to start benefiting refugees by the end of the summer. Since the publication on 4 May of the Third Progress report on the implementation of Turkey’s Visa Liberalisation Roadmap, progress has also continued towards fulfilling the remaining benchmarks of the visa liberalisation roadmap.
European Commission First Vice-President Frans Timmermans said: “The EU-Turkey Statement is delivering results: migrants see that it is not worth risking their lives on smugglers’ boats and we are on track to contract €1 billion of projects under the Refugee Facility by the end of this summer. But now is not the moment to sit back. We need to fully implement all elements of the Statement. This includes stepping up resettlement and increasing Greece’s capacity to address the humanitarian situation and deal with asylum applications in line with EU law. The Turkish authorities also need to complete the implementation of the visa liberalisation roadmap.”
A press release, a Q&A as well as a factsheet on the Refugee Facility are available.
