Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 3 November 2015
142. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will report on the European Council's action plan with Turkey on the refugee crisis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36931/15]
View answerTurkey is a very important partner for all of us in the European Union, and a key partner as we all frame our collective response to the current migration crisis. As host to well over two million refugees, Turkey is particularly important to any resolution to this crisis and, in this regard, it is important that the EU and Turkey formulate a coordinated and collaborative plan of action.
This has been clearly recognised in the Joint EU-Turkey Action Plan, presented by President Juncker on 5 October and welcomed at the European Council on 17 October. The Action Plan identifies a series of collaborative actions to be implemented as a matter of urgency by the EU and Turkey.
The Action Plan contains both short-term and medium term measures, and focusses on: (a) supporting the refugees and their host communities in Turkey and (b) strengthening cooperation to prevent irregular migration flows to the EU. It is expected to constitute an integral part of the on-going political dialogue and cooperation between the EU and Turkey, and builds upon existing EU-Turkey relations, policy dialogue and cooperation instruments, as well as, more generally, Turkey’s EU accession process. This includes in particular the visa liberalisation dialogue, the EU-Turkey readmission agreement and the EU instruments for the provision of financial assistance to Turkey.
Implementation of the Action Plan will be key, a process which will be jointly steered and overseen by the European Commission and the High Representative and the Turkish Government through the establishment of an EU-Turkey high-level working group on migration.
Implementation measures will be designed to allow the EU and Turkey to cover further emergency needs by providing immediate humanitarian assistance to refugees; alleviate the burden undertaken by Turkish society in hosting more than 2.2 million refugees; create better living conditions and medium and long-term perspectives for refugees in Turkey; and address key factors that push refugees to move from Turkey to the EU through irregular channels in search of alternative places of asylum.
