Turkey urged to reduce crime before joining EU

The Committee recommends improved intelligence-sharing across national and agency boundaries to disrupt criminal networks, especially in the land border between Greece and Turkey as this constitutes the main loophole for irregular immigration into the EU.

Frontex, the EU border agency, have been present at the land border between Greece and Turkey since November 2010, which led to a reduction in the number of irregular crossings from 7,607 in October 2010 to 1,632 in February 2011.

However, as Frontex is unable to turn back migrants, the Committee suggests it may be more effective for the agency to work alongside Turkish border agencies - the EU should amend the Frontex Regulation accordingly.

The Committee is impressed by the close and successful working relationship between the UK and Turkish law enforcement agencies and calls for this to be replicated within EU agencies such as Europol.

The Committee also believes that risks are outweighed by the potential benefits - partly in terms of the standards that Turkey will be required to meet to become an EU Member, but largely owing to the opportunities it will bring for increased cooperation.

Finally, the Committee urges an impact assessment of the likely scale of legal migration of Turkey nationals to the UK following EU accession, given the lack of an official estimate.

Found this story interesting?
Spread the news by clicking below to add it to your bookmarking service:

• Del.icio.us
• Digg this
• Reddit!