The European Union-Turkey Cooperation on Migration matters: Towards a Review of the Migratory Statement of 18 march 2016

Abstract

Cooperation between the European Union (EU) and Turkey on migration matters is an essential element in the migration policy of the European Union. This controversial cooperation has been reformulated within the framework of the response to the migration crisis, one of its central elements being the EU-Turkey statement, 18 March 2016. Regardless of the questionable content of the Statement, it is particularly controversial that an agreement of this relevance has been exclusively included in a press release of a Joint Declaration between the EU and Turkey. In this way, the procedure for negotiating and signing international treaties, provided for in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, has been avoided; in particular, the participation of the European Parliament and the intervention of national parliaments. On February 28, 2017, the General Court has dismissed three annulment actions against this Statement. The Court, in an excessively formal interpretation, declares its lack of competence to hear the merits of the matter. Thus, the Court considers that the Statement is not an act of the EU, but rather an act adopted by the Heads of State and Government; therefore, it is not competent to rule on the legality of an international agreement concluded by the Member States. The Court is not aware that the aforementioned Statement contains genuine legal obligations for the EU itself, as can be seen from its execution during the period in which it is being applied. In similar terms, the Spanish Supreme Court has avoided making a ruling on the merits and content of the Statement. As of March 2020, at a time of significant tensions between the EU and Turkey, a process of reflection on EU-Turkey cooperation on migration has begun, which should conclude with the review of the commitments contained in the Statement of 2016. In of March 2020, at a time of significant tensions between the EU and Turkey, a process of reflection on EU-Turkey cooperation on migration has begun, which should conclude with the review of the commitments contained in the Statement of 2016.