A practitioners’ guide to the EC-Turkey Association Agreement

Book abstract:

The Association Agreement between Turkey and the EC ('the Ankara Agreement') was signed on 12 September 1963, and envisaged the establishment of a customs union. In 1970, a Protocol to the Ankara Agreement was signed, which also aimed to achieve free movement of workers. An Association Council was established, which was capable of making decisions in relation to the Ankara Agreement, and has, in practice served to provide most guidance in relation to the freedom of movement of workers. While progress in Turkey's accession to the European Union has been slower than originally envisaged, there continues to be a large flow of migrant workers from Turkey to European Union countries, in particular Germany. To date, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has delivered fourteen judgements directly relating to the Ankara Agreement, while many more remain pending before the court. The majority of these cases emanate from Germany and increasingly concern the social rights of workers and the rights of their families.

Following an introduction looking at the historical context of the agreement and a brief description of the Turkish community in Europe, the author considers the context of community law within which the agreement operates, including a description of the jurisdiction of the ECJ, before looking at the provisions of the agreement and the protocol in detail. Subsequent chapters examine the workers rights to continued employment and the right of residence, the standstill clauses, provisions in the agreement for family members, rights to benefits and the issue of deportation. The second half of the book consists of annexes which give the texts of the Ankara Agreement and decisions of the Association Council. Following these, there are detailed descriptions of the cases which have received judgement in the ECJ.

Nicola Rogers is a barrister in independent practice in the United Kingdom specialising in immigration and asylum law, with particular expertise on EU and International Human Rights law.