Abstract
The aim of this article is to understand why the EU opted to conclude the ‘EU–Turkey refugee deal’ in March 2016 in the context of the Syrian refugee crisis, despite the fact that the agreement deeply contradicts fundamental EU values and norms. The article seeks to explain the outcome—the conclusion of the EU–Turkey refugee deal—by analysing not only the ability of EU institutions to shape decisions, but also their motivations, ideas and preferences in justifying the EU’s actions in responding to the refugee challenge. It is argued that the deal results from ideational and power struggles between supranational (the European Parliament and the European Commission) and intergovernmental institutions (the European Council and the Council of the European Union). It is demonstrated that while the former put forward normative arguments, the latter invoked security as a main concern to avoid internal divisions between Member States. This article also reveals that such ideational and power struggles have consequences for the EU’s identity. Theoretically, the article builds on the new intergovernmentalist claims and on the normative/civilian power literature. Empirically, it explores the usage of normative justifications by EU institutions and points to inter-institutional tensions in framing the EU’s response to the refugee challenge.
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18 February 2021
A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41269-021-00196-6
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The original online version of this article was revised: Due to wrong journal name in the references namely, Ciornei, I., and E. Recchi. 2017, Forsberg, T. 2011, Lavenex, S. 2018, Manners, I. 2002, Moreno-Lax, V. 2018, Niemann, A., and N. Zaun. 2018, Slominski, P., and F. Trauner. 2018, Thielemann, E. 2018 and Zaun, N. 2018. Now, they have been corrected.
Appendices
Appendix 1 Summary of EU–Turkey statement, 16 March 2016
Provisions related to asylum seekers and irregular migrants | Provisions related to Turkey’s accession to the EU |
|---|---|
(1) All new irregular migrants or asylum seekers crossing from Turkey to the Greek islands as of 20 March 2016 will be returned to Turkey | (1) The fulfilment of the visa liberalisation roadmap will be accelerated with a view to lifting the visa requirements for Turkish citizens at the latest by the end of June 2016 |
(2) For every Syrian being returned to Turkey from the Greek islands, another Syrian will be resettled to the EU from Turkey directly | (2) The EU and Turkey welcomed the ongoing work on the upgrading of the Customs Union |
(3) Turkey will take any necessary measures to prevent irregular migration from Turkey to the EU | (3) The accession process will be re-energised, with Chapter 33 to be opened during the Dutch Presidency of the Council of the European Union and preparatory work on the opening of other chapters to continue at an accelerated pace |
(4) Once irregular crossings between Turkey and the EU are ending or have been substantially reduced, a Voluntary Humanitarian Admission Scheme will be activated | |
(5) The EU will further speed up the disbursement of the initially allocated €3 billion under the Facility for Refugees in Turkey. Once these resources are about to be used in full, the EU will mobilise additional funding for the Facility up to an additional €3 billion to the end of 2018 | |
(6) The EU and Turkey will work to improve humanitarian conditions inside Syria |
Appendix 2: Operationalization of NPE/CP for content analysis
Categories/dimensions | Definition | Indicators | Examples of coded frames | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Normative power | 1. Normative identity | The constitutive values/norms of the EU and its treaty-based legal order | References to intra-EU solidarity (arguments in favour of fair-burden sharing, solidarity among Member States usually in the form of relocation or through the allocation of technical/financial resources to support the most-affected Member States) | The EP stresses the need for the EU to base its immediate response to the situation on solidarity and fair sharing of responsibility, as stated in Article 80 of the TFEU |
Call for a respect for or references to EU norms/values (respect for human rights, rights of refugees, fundamental values of the EU such as solidarity) | We thought it was time to give a true European response to such fundamental and simple questions. One where every Member State would do its fair share in order to promote the fundamental values of humanity and solidarity on which this Union is built | |||
2. Normative interests/ends | Engaging in activities aimed at a common good (rather than selfish possession goals) | Ideas about solidarity with refugees (helping those in need, helping those fleeing from war) in the form of resettlement of refugees, the pursuance of open-door policy for refugees, or the creation of legal avenues for refugees or evacuation of displaced persons from third countries | Resettlement is one of the preferred options for granting safe and lawful access to the Union for refugees and those in need of international protection | |
Ideas about solidarity with partners (in terms of burden sharing of refugees through the resettlement of refugees from third states to Europe) | The Commission has proposed a resettlement scheme to transfer 20,000 refugees to Europe from third countries, showing much needed solidarity with our neighbours | |||
Ideas about addressing the root causes of migration | The EP stresses the need for the EU to step up its foreign policies so as to bring peace and stability to those areas where war and conflict trigger enormous migration flows towards the EU | |||
3. Normative means | The EU uses normative (rather than military or economic) means of power (the EU persuades by referring to the general rules and practices, or illustrating the future mutual gains, or by shaping the discourse of what is normal) | Norms-based approach to refugees (including all policies related to the protection of refugees’ human rights, human dignity, humanitarian admission, refugees’ integration in European Member States or labour market, social inclusion, or protection of vulnerable groups among refugees) | Priority should be given to actions providing immediate humanitarian assistance; provision of legal, administrative and psychological support to refugees; support for community centres; the enhancement of self-sufficiency and employability of refugees and their social inclusion | |
Respect for international and cosmopolitan law (rights of individuals, human rights, human dignity, humanitarian norms, right to asylum) | The EP recalls that saving of lives is a legal obligation under international law | |||
References to or definition of the norms-based action needed to be taken either at the international level or at the EU level | The EU and its Member States must lead by example in promoting and protecting the human rights of migrants | |||
Norms-based approach to external partners (all arguments related to the firm application of EU’s conditionality policy vis-à-vis third partners) | The EP calls on both the Commission and the Council not to ignore internal developments in Turkey and to clearly stand up for respect for the rule of law and fundamental rights in Turkey, as stipulated in the Copenhagen criteria, and irrespective of other interests | |||
Civilian power | 4. The ‘centrality of economic power’ (non-military) in the achievement of national goals | Economic cooperation with external partners (financial support) | Solidarity with external partners (arguments in favour of cooperating with external partners for stemming refugee flow to the EU) through financial means for supporting external partners | Turkey’s efforts to host more than two million Syrian and Iraqi refugees deserve not only our approval but also our full support and solidarity. The Council’s recent decision to increase the EU’s financial contribution, the Commission’s commitments in this respect and the increased contribution of Member States should help us in putting our forces together |
5. The primacy of ‘diplomatic cooperation to solve international problems’ (multilateralism) | Diplomatic cooperation with external partners | Working with external partners for stemming refugee flow to the EU, for better controlling irregular migration, for ensuring readmission and return through international agreements. These arguments usually take the form of ‘extending solidarity to external partners’ | We need to gear up our cooperation with third countries to make sure return and readmission are the reality for those who have no right to stay in Europe Another important contribution, and a result of this statement with Turkey, is better burden sharing with Turkey for jointly bringing order into migratory flows, and for stemming irregular migration | |
6. The willingness to work through legally binding supranational institutions (EU or international law) to achieve security | Control/protection of external borders | Measures related to the control/protection of external borders in order to provide security, safety for EU citizens, Member States, or the stability of the EU, or to save the Schengen system | We need to do a better job of protecting our external borders. Europe without its external borders equals Europe without Schengen. Europe without its external borders will become a breeding ground for fear in each and every one of us. And this will lead us, sooner rather than later, to a political catastrophe | |
Measures related to preventing uncontrolled migratory flow to the EU, including measures regarding fighting smugglers, stopping sea arrivals usually justified in order to save refugees’ lives | We have reacted with more funding and resources for Triton to help it manage borders and save lives |
Appendix 3: The list of official documents and speeches
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Avramopoulos (2015a) Speech at the EP plenary on the European Agenda on Migration (plenary debate), 20 May.
Avramopoulos (2015b) Speech at the EP plenary on Migration and refugees in Europe (plenary debate), 9 September.
Avramopoulos (2015c) Speech at the EP plenary on Conclusions of the Justice and Home Affairs Council on migration (plenary debate), 16 September.
Avramopoulos (2015d) Speech at the EP plenary on the Report of the extraordinary European Council meeting—The latest tragedies in the Mediterranean and EU migration and asylum policies (plenary debate), 29 April.
Avramopoulos (2016a), Speech at the EP plenary on Turkey's progress in fulfilling the requirements of the Visa liberalisation roadmap (plenary debate), 11 May.
Avramopoulos (2016b) Speech at the EP plenary on the Refugee emergency, external borders control and future of Schengen—Respect for the international principle of non-refoulement—Financing refugee facility for Turkey—Increased racist hatred and violence against refugees and migrants across Europe (plenary debate), 2 February.
Avramopoulos (2016c) Press Release, EU–Turkey agreement: 54,000 places allocated for resettlement of Syrians from Turkey, 21 March.
Avramopoulos (2016d) Speech at the EP plenary on the conclusions of the European Council meeting of 17 and 18 March 2016 and outcome of the EU–Turkey summit (plenary debate), 13 April.
Avramopoulos (2016e) Speech at the EP plenary on the situation in the Mediterranean and the need for a holistic EU approach to migration (plenary debate), 12 April.
Council (2015a). Justice and Home Affairs Council of 22 September 2015 main results.
Council (2015b). Justice and Home Affairs Council of 8–9 October 2015 main results.
Council (2015c). Foreign Affairs Council of 12 October 2015 Conclusions on Migration.
Dijkhoff, K. (2016) Speech at the Plenary, Legal aspects, democratic control and implementation of the EU–Turkey agreement (debate), 28 April.
European Commission (2015a). A Communication from the Commission: A European Agenda on Migration, 13 May, COM(2015)240.
European Commission (2015b). Press release. Managing migration better in all aspects: A European Agenda on Migration. Accessed on 3 May 2018 on https://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-15-4956_en.htm
European Commission (2015c). Fact Sheet Refugee Crisis: European Commission takes decisive action—Questions and answers. Accessed on 5 May 2018 on https://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-15-5597_en.htm
Refugee Crisis: European Commission takes decisive action.
European Commission (2015d) Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the European Council and the Council. Managing the refugee crisis: State of Play of the Implementation of the Priority Actions under the European Agenda on Migration. COM(2015) 510 final.
European Commission (2015e) Press release. Draft Action Plan: Stepping up EU–Turkey cooperation on support of refugees and migration management in view of the situation in Syria and Iraq.
European Commission (2016) Memo, Implementing the EU–Turkey Statement: Questions and Answers, 8 December.
European Commission (2020) New Pact on Migration and Asylum, 23 September.
European Council (2015a). Statement, Informal meeting of EU heads of state or government on migration, 23 September.
European Council (2015b). European Council conclusions, 15 October.
European Council (2015c). Press Release, Meeting of Heads of state or government with Turkey, 29 November.
European Parliament (2015a). EP resolution of 10 September on migration and refugees in Europe (2015/2833(RSP)).
European Parliament (2015b). EP resolution of 29 April 2015 on the latest tragedies in the Mediterranean and EU migration and asylum policies (2015/2660(RSP)).
European Parliament (2015c). EP resolution of 10 June 2015 on the 2014 Commission Progress Report on Turkey (2014/2953(RSP)).
European Parliament (2016a). EP resolution of 13 December 2016 on the situation of fundamental rights in the European Union in 2015.
European Parliament (2016b). EP resolution of 12 April 2016 on the situation in the Mediterranean and the need for a holistic EU approach to migration (2015/2095(INI)).
European Parliament (2016c). EP resolution of 5 July 2016 on refugees: social inclusion and integration into the labour market (2015/2321(INI)).
European Parliament (2016d). EP resolution of 25 October 2016 on human rights and migration in third countries (2015/2316(INI)).
European Parliament (2016e). EP resolution of 14 April 2016 on the 2015 report on Turkey (2015/2898(RSP)).
European Parliament (2016f). EP resolution of 8 March 2016 on the situation of women refugees and asylum seekers in the EU (2015/2325(INI)).
Hennis-Plasschaert (2016a) Speech at the EP plenary on the Report on Turkey (plenary debate), 13 April.
Hennis-Plasschaert (2016b) Speech at the EP plenary on the Preparation of the European Council meeting of 17 and 18 March 2016 and outcome of the EU–Turkey summit (plenary debate), 9 March.
Juncker (2015a) Speech at the EP plenary on the conclusions of the Special European Council on 23 April: The latest tragedies in the Mediterranean and EU migration and asylum policies (plenary debate), 29 April.
Juncker (2015b) Speech at the EP plenary, State of the Union address to the EP (plenary debate), 9 September.
Juncker (2015c) Speech at the EP plenary on the Conclusions of the informal European Council of 23 September 2015 (plenary debate), 6 October.
Juncker (2015d) Speech at the EP plenary on the Preparation of the European Council meeting of 17 and 18 December 2015 (plenary debate), 16 December.
Juncker (2015e) Speech at the EP plenary on the Conclusions of the European Council meeting of 15 October 2015, in particular the financing of international funds, and of the Leaders' meeting on the Western Balkans route of 25 October 2015, and preparation of the Valletta summit of 11 and 12 November 2015 (plenary debate), 27 October.
Juncker (2015f) Speech at the EP plenary on the Preparation of the European Council meeting 15–16 October 2015 (plenary debate), 14 October.
Juncker (2015g), Speech at the EP, Conclusions of the European Council (25–26 June 2015) and of the Euro Summit (7 July 2015) and the current situation in Greece, 8 July.
Juncker (2016a) Speech at the EP plenary on the Conclusions of the European Council meeting of 18 and 19 February 2016 (plenary debate), 24 February.
Juncker (2016b) Speech at the EP plenary on the Conclusions of the European Council meeting of 17 and 18 December (plenary debate), 19 January.
Juncker (2016c) Speech at the 2016 Spring Meetings of the IMF, World Bank flagship event on ‘Forced Displacement: A Global Development Challenge’, 15 April.
Juncker (2016d), Speech at the EP plenary on the Conclusions of the European Council meeting of 17 and 18 March 2016 and outcome of the EU–Turkey summit (plenary debate), 13 April.
Juncker (2016e) Speech at the EP, Preparation of the European Council meeting of 18 and 19 February 2016 (debate), 3 February.
Kalniņa-Lukaševica, Z. (2015a), Speech at the EP Plenary, European Agenda on Migration (plenary debate), 20 May 2015.
Kalniņa-Lukaševica, Z. (2015b), Speech at the EP Plenary Preparation of the European Council meeting (25–26 June 2015), 24 June 2015.
Koenders, B. (2016), Speech at the EP, Refugee emergency, external borders control and future of Schengen—Respect for the international principle of non-refoulement—Financing refugee facility for Turkey—Increased racist hatred and violence against refugees and migrants across Europe (plenary debate), 2 February.
Koenders, B. (2016), Speech at the EP Plenary, Preparation of the European Council meeting of 18 and 19 February 2016 (debate), 3 February.
Koenders, B. (2016), Speech at the EP Plenary, Preparation of the G7 Summit (plenary debate), 25 May.
Schmit (2015a) Speech at the EP plenary on the EU–Turkey Summit (plenary debate), 2 December.
Schmit (2015b) Speech at the EP plenary on the Preparation of the European Council meeting of 17 and 18 December 2015 (plenary debate), 16 December.
Schmit (2015c) Speech at the EP plenary on the Migration and refugees in Europe (plenary debate), 9 September.
Schmit (2015d) Speech at the EP plenary on the preparation of the European Council meeting (15–16 October 2015) (plenary debate), 14 October.
Schmit (2015e) Speech at the EP plenary on the Situation in Turkey (plenary debate), 7 October.
Schmit (2015f) Speech at the EP plenary on the Humanitarian situation of refugees within the EU and neighbouring countries (plenary debate), 6 October.
Schmit (2015 g) Speech at the EP plenary on the Outcome of the Valletta summit of 11 and 12 November 2015 and of the G20 summit of 15 and 16 November 2015 (plenary debate), 25 November.
Timmermans (2015a) Speech at the EP plenary, Statement by the President (plenary debate), 17 September.
Timmermans (2015b). Speech at the EP plenary Debate on the European Agenda on Migration, Strasbourg (plenary debate), 20 May.
Timmermans (2015c) Speech at the EP plenary on migration and refugees in Europe (plenary debate), 9 September.
Timmermans (2015d) Speech at the EP plenary on the Conclusions on the Justice and Home Affairs Council on migration (plenary debate), 16 September.
Timmermans (2015e), Speech at the EP plenary on the preparation of the European Council meeting (25–26 June 2015) (plenary debate), 24 June.
Timmermans (2015f) Speech at the EP plenary on EU–Turkey summit (plenary debate), 2 December.
Timmermans (2015 g) Speech at the EP plenary on the preparation of the European Council meeting of 17–18 December 2015 (plenary debate), 16 December.
Timmermans (2015 h) Speech at Prague European Summit Conference, Brussels, 13 November.
Timmermans (2016a) Speech at the EP plenary on the Communication on implementing the European agenda on migration (plenary debate), 8 March.
Timmermans (2016b) Speech at the EP plenary on the legal aspects, democratic control and implementation of the EU–Turkey agreement (plenary debate), 28 April.
Timmermans, F. (2016c), Speech at the EP Plenary, Preparation of the G7 Summit (plenary debate), 25 May.
Tusk (2015a) Press remarks by President Donald Tusk after the informal meeting of EU heads of state or government, 12 November.
Tusk (2015b) Speech at the EP plenary on the Conclusions of the informal European Council of 23 September 2015 (plenary debate), 6 October.
Tusk (2015c) Speech at the EP plenary on the Report of the extraordinary European Council meeting—The latest tragedies in the Mediterranean and EU migration and asylum policies (plenary debate), 29 April.
Tusk (2015d). Speech by President Donald Tusk at the EPP congress in Madrid, 22 October.
Tusk (2015e) Speech at the EP plenary on the Conclusions of the European Council meeting of 15 October 2015, in particular the financing of international funds, and of the Leaders' meeting on the Western Balkans route of 25 October 2015, and preparation of the Valletta summit of 11 and 12 November 2015 (plenary debate), 27 October.
Tusk (2015f), Highlights: Leaders’ comments at EU–Turkey Summit, Reuters, 30 November.
Tusk (2015g), Speech at the EP, Conclusions of the European Council (25–26 June 2015) and of the Euro Summit (7 July 2015) and the current situation in Greece, 8 July 2015.
Tusk (2016a) Speech at the EP plenary on the Conclusions of the European Council meeting of 17 and 18 March 2016 and outcome of the EU–Turkey summit (plenary debate), 13 April.
Tusk (2016b) Speech at the EP plenary on the Conclusions of the European Council meeting of 15 October 2015, in particular the financing of international funds, and of the Leaders' meeting on the Western Balkans route of 25 October 2015, and preparation of the Valletta summit of 11 and 12 November 2015 (plenary debate), 19 January.
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Gürkan, S., Coman, R. The EU–Turkey deal in the 2015 ‘refugee crisis’: when intergovernmentalism cast a shadow on the EU’s normative power. Acta Polit 56, 276–305 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41269-020-00184-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41269-020-00184-2