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THE STATE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
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and the instability in Libya presage further con-
stant pressure on European borders.
More serious still is the return of ISIS com-
batants to European Union countries, because
of the threat of the highest order that it poses
to European security, not forgetting its possible
political consequences in an election year in
countries such as France and Germany. That is
why Germany, Austria, France, Sweden,
Denmark and Norway maintain border controls
in the Schengen Area.
Turkey has become the EU’s main partners
on migration matters. That was what the sum-
mit on refugees of 29 November 2015 estab-
lished. It adopted a dual dialogue with Turkey: it
relaunched the candidacy for accession to the
EU and made it a key partner on matters of mi-
gration and refugees. As a result of that sum-
mit, a Joint Action Plan was activated on the
management of migrations and refugees. The
financing of the support fund for the refugees
in Turkey was increased to 3 billion euros for the
period 2016-2017 and the freeing of visas for
Turkish citizens was speeded up. Turkey has also
been on the EU’s foreign agenda because of the
attempted
coup d’état
on 15 July. The EU re-
acted swiftly, condemning the coup and calling
for respect for democracy, rights and funda-
mental freedoms, underscoring the need to up-
hold the principles of the right to a fair trial. The
EU framed the call within the European
Convention for the Protection of Human Rights
and Fundamental Freedoms, including Protocol
13 on the abolition of the death penalty.
There is also continued tension between
Turkey and Cyprus, with the now traditional po-
sition of the EU in support of Cyprus’s sover-
eignty, including over its Exclusive Economic
Zone. Awaiting confirmation, the prospects of
an agreement after decades of division are near-
er than ever in early 2017.
The complex search for Eastern association
The achievement of stability and development
in the EU’s eastern neighbours is a longstanding
goal of the Union’s foreign relations.
Migration, terrorism and energy security are
issues that are inseparable from the stability and
development of the countries to the east of the
EU. The refugee crisis and the tension with
Russia over Ukraine have revived reflection in
Brussels and in many European capitals over the
action to carry out in the region according to
the degree of future integration envisaged with
each of the countries and the degree of pro-
gress in the reforms that the EU wants to realise
with each of them. In May 2016, the ministerial
meeting of the Eastern Association reiterated
the principles on which those relations must be
built: democracy, stability and development.
Three countries (Georgia, Moldova and
Ukraine) have continued to make progress in
the execution of their association agreements
with the EU, which encountered major obsta-
cles in the institutional reforms that have to be
introduced. In the cases of Georgia and
Moldova, the agreements came into force on 1
January 2016. For Ukraine, given its internal cri-
sis, the agreement is being applied provisionally.
The internal situation of the country has re-
mained a source of concern on the European
external agenda and a central element of EU-
Russia relations. Both its political stability, which
is very precarious and tense, and its economic
sustainability depend on the support and assis-
tance of the EU. At the same time, Brussels in-
sists on the need to put a stop to the structural
weaknesses regarding rights and freedoms and
combating corruption, which continue to hang
over the immediate future. Energy cooperation
with Ukraine is also continuing in an intense
manner. It should materialise into a strategic