During the plenary session (01-04/10/2018) of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, MEPs vote to cancel €70 million in pre-accession funds earmarked for Turkey, as no improvements in the fields of rule of law, democracy, human rights and press freedom have been made. Statement by Siegfried MURESAN (EPP, RO), rapporteur

statement

Strasbourg

plenary session

EU - Türkiye (T)

Enlargement to Türkiye (T)

vote

MUREŞAN, Siegfried (EPP, RO)

Vote on the Reserve related to the support to Turkey: extracts from the vote and statement by Siegfried MUREŞAN (EPP, RO), rapporteur

SOUNDBITE (English), Siegfried MURE&#536;AN (EPP, RO), rapporteur, We have decided to cut the pre-accession fund to Turkey by one hundred and five million euros and we have decided to put additional 70 million euros into reserves. What does this reserve mean? This reserve means that the money was supposed to be made available if Turkey progresses converges towards EU standards, when it comes to the rule of law, to democratic standards, to freedom of the press, to freedom of expression and to human rights. And because the situation in Turkey is not moving towards EU standards but because EU standards are not respected in Turkey that is why we have decided to cut the funding by 105 million and to put additional 70 million euros into reserve.

SOUNDBITE (English), Siegfried MURE&#536;AN (EPP, RO), We cannot close our eyes to EU values being breached just because Turkey is an important partner and an important ally in another area, when it comes to tackling the migration refugee crisis.

SOUNDBITE (English), Siegfried MURE&#536;AN (EPP, RO), What are we going to do with the money now? We are going to use the money where they are needed, particularly to work to combat the migration crisis, and we are going to use 42 million euros out of the 70 for the countries in Northern Africa in order to reduce migration through the central Mediterranean route and we are going to use twenty eight million euros for Syrian refugees for the countries in the Middle East that are supposed to house Syrian refugees.

SOUNDBITE (English), Siegfried MURE&#536;AN (EPP, RO), We have a refugee facility with Turkey so we have an agreement with Turkey which foresees exactly how Syrian migrants which are coming to Turkey are to be treated. And this facility is functioning. This agreement between the European Union and Turkey is functioning. We are both fulfilling our commitments when it comes to the Syrian refugees in Turkey.

e-Vote results . Total voters: 646 in favour 544 against 028 abstentions 074