Signing of the association agreement between the EEC and Turkey

The Agreement Creating An Association Between The Republic of Turkey and the European Economic Community, commonly known as the Ankara Agreement (), is a

treaty A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between sovereign states and/or international organizations that is governed by international law. A treaty may also be known as an international agreement, protocol, covenant, convention ...

signed in 1963 that provides for the framework for the co-operation between

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

and the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

(EU).

Background

Turkey first applied for associate membership of the

European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organisation created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...

(EEC) in July 1959, the EEC having been established in 1958. The EEC responded by suggesting the establishment of an association as an interim measure leading to full accession. This led to negotiations which resulted in the Ankara Agreement on September 12, 1963.

Agreement

The Ankara Agreement was signed on 12 September 1963 in

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

. The Agreement initiated a three-step process toward creating a customs union to help secure Turkey's full membership in the EEC. Upon creation, the customs union would begin the integration of economic and trade policy, which the EEC considered necessary. An Association Council, set up by the Agreement, controls its development and gives the Agreement detailed effect by making decisions. In 1970, Turkey and the EEC agreed an Additional Protocol to the Agreement. One part of the Agreement was to be financial assistance from the EEC to Turkey, including loans worth 175 million ECU during the period from 1963 to 1970. The results were mixed; EEC trade concessions to Turkey in the form of tariff quotas proved less effective than hoped, but the EEC's share in Turkish imports rose substantially during the period. The Agreement sought the free circulation of workers, establishment and services, including virtually total harmonisation with EEC policies relating to the internal market. However, it excluded Turkey from political positions and precluded its recourse to the

European Court of Justice The European Court of Justice (ECJ), officially the Court of Justice (), is the supreme court of the European Union in matters of European Union law. As a part of the Court of Justice of the European Union, it is tasked with interpreting ...

for dispute resolution to some extent. With the European Union replacing the EEC with the entry into force of the

Lisbon Treaty The Treaty of Lisbon (initially known as the Reform Treaty) is a European agreement that amends the two Treaty, treaties which form the constitutional basis of the European Union (EU). The Treaty of Lisbon, which was signed by all Member stat ...

, the Ankara Agreement now governs relations between Turkey and the EU.

Individual rights

The Agreement, its Additional Protocol and Decisions of the Association Council are part of EEC law. The

has decided that these give specific rights to Turkish nationals and businesses that the EEC Member States are required by EEC law to respect. Under Article 6(1) of Association Council Decision 1/80, Turkish nationals legally employed in an EEC member state for a certain period gain rights to remain or switch employment in that state: * a Turkish national legally employed by the same employer for one year has the right to permission from the member state to remain in that employment; * a Turkish national legally employed for three years in a particular area of work has the right to permission from the member state to take employment with any employer in that area; * a Turkish national legally employed for four years has the right to permission from the member state to take employment with any employer. A Turkish national who works legally as an

au pair An au pair (; : au pairs) is a person working for, and living as part of, a homestay, host family. Typically, au pairs take on a share of the family’s responsibility for child care as well as some homemaking, housework, and receive a monetary ...

or while a student can count as a worker.judgment of the European Court of Justice in Case C-294/06 ''Payir'', 24 January 2008
/ref>

Notes

References

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