EU Heads of State and Government Summit with Turkey

On November 29, 2015, EU Heads of State and Government held a Summit with Turkey. The Summit was an important step in developing EU-Turkey relations and contributing to the management of the migration crisis. The President of the European Council, Mr. Donald Tusk, chaired the Summit and Prime Minister Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu represented Turkey.
The EU and Turkey agreed to revitalize Turkey’s EU accession process. High-level dialogue between the two parties will be strengthened with more frequent and structured meetings, including the organization of two summits per year.
Regular Summits will provide a basis for assessing the development of Turkey-EU relations and examining international issues.
During the Summit, a Joint Action Plan was approved to address the refugee crisis created by the situation in Syria. The EU and its member states will increase their cooperation with Turkey and significantly enhance their political and economic engagement.
The EU commits to initially provide 3 billion euros in additional resources to Turkey to help it cope with the needs of the high number of Syrian refugees already in the country.
By implementing the Action Plan, both sides will strengthen their active cooperation regarding migrants who do not require international protection: preventing movement to Turkey and the EU, ensuring the implementation of existing bilateral readmission provisions, and providing for their rapid return to their countries of origin. The leaders welcomed Turkey’s intention to further improve the situation of Syrians under temporary protection and its commitment to combat criminal networks of human trafficking.
The EU and Turkey also agreed to implement the readmission agreement from June 2016. They intend to complete the visa liberalization process and lift visa requirements for Turkish citizens in the Schengen area by October 2016.
The leaders announced the holding of an Intergovernmental Conference on December 14, 2015, to open Chapter 17 of the accession process, regarding further economic integration with Turkey. The European Commission will start preparatory work for the next chapters, subject to the positions of member states. Of the 35 negotiation chapters with Turkey, 14 have been opened and 1 has been provisionally closed.