Spotlight: Silver bullet or long shot gamble? EU eager for panacea of migration crisis

The two-day European Union (EU) summit ended here as scheduled Friday afternoon, with the finalization of a seemingly exciting migration deal with Turkey.

So far, Europe is experiencing the worst migrant crisis since the Second World War. More than 1 million people have traveled to the continent through various transit routes.

Turkey, which currently hosts 2.7 million refugees or migrants, mainly from war-torn Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan who were keen to cross the Turkish border for final settlement in Europe, presented to Brussels new proposals to tackle the migration crisis on March 7, asking for extra financial aid, the speeding up of its EU membership negotiation process, and a more liberalized visa scheme in exchange.

The EU delayed the decision to the summit.

European Council President Donald Tusk said hours ahead of the summit on Thursday that he was "more cautious than optimistic" on the chance of reaching agreement with Turkey as there was resistance from EU member states to Ankara's proposals.

Moreover, European Parliament President Martin Schulz warned on the same day that talks with Turkey should not be linked to the country's efforts to join the EU.

"We need a partnership, not a dependence on Turkey. We can not and should not 'outsource' our problems to Turkey," said Schulz.

Cyprus had threatened to veto the possible EU-Turkey plan unless Ankara recognizes the country's government, it was reported Thursday.

EU leaders were also divided on Turkey's controversial proposals. German Chancellor Angela Merkel viewed the would-be agreement as a breakthrough but others were more skeptical.

Britain would not offer visa-free access to Turks as part to the agreement, said British Prime Minister David Cameron. "We have kept our own border control."

However, the EU and Turkey successfully finalized the deal on time.

They agreed that all new irregular migrants crossing from Turkey into the Greek islands as from March 20, 2016 are to be returned to Turkey, and this will take place in full accordance with EU and international law, according to a joint statement of the two parties.

Moreover, they agreed that for every Syrian being returned to Turkey from the Greek islands, another Syrian would be resettled from Turkey to the EU.

In return, the EU gave its consent to fulfill the visa liberalization roadmap, with a view to lifting the visa requirements for Turkish citizens at the latest by the end of June 2016.

The EU also promised to further speed up the disbursement of the initially allocated 3 billion euros (about 3.39 billion U.S. dollars) in aid funds for Turkey to handle the migrant crisis and ensure the funding of further projects for persons under temporary protection identified with swift input from Turkey before the end of March.

The bloc said it would also mobilize additional funding of an additional 3 billion euros up to the end of 2018.

Moreover, Turkey is supposed to be satisfied to see that the EU reconfirmed to re-energize and accelerate its EU accession process during the Netherlands presidency, which ends June 30 of this year.

"On a more general note, some may think this agreement is a silver bullet. But reality is more complex," warned Tusk at the press conference following the summit.

"It is just one pillar of the European Union's comprehensive strategy and can work only if the other pillars are also implemented," added Tusk.

Schulz expressed his concern over the deal, saying that "the Parliament is also keen to find out the details on returns to Turkey and resettlement to the EU ... MEPs want to know how Turkey would meet conditions for being considered a 'safe third country'."

He also underlined that any arrangement reached with Turkey could not replace a genuine EU migration and asylum policy, and called for an overhaul of existing rules and the establishment of a European coast and border guard.

But to Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, things are totally different.

"We agreed that our relation is not a relationship of crisis management, but a relationship of vision, the same vision of much more strategic cooperation between Turkey and the EU," said Davutoglu at the press conference.

He also denied the saying that Turkey is just asking for money, explaining that "last summit I have seen many reports and comments of media saying the agreement based on finance."

"The European Union will help Syrian refugees ... Turkey will just be assisting the European Union for the access to Syrian refugees," argued the prime minister.

In addition to the deal with Turkey, the EU leaders also called for strengthening cooperation with the Western Balkan countries in tackling the migration crisis at the summit.

"The European Council is extremely vigilant as regards possible new routes for irregular migrants and calls for taking any measures that may become necessary in that respect," according to a statement released after the summit in the name of the 28 member states.

"In this context, the fight against smugglers everywhere and by all appropriate means remains key," added the statement.

However, no matter how determined and eager the EU is seen to tackle the migration crisis, its slow implementation of exist policies already raised wide suspicions.

The European Court of Auditors published a report hours before the opening of the summit Thursday on the external migration policy of the EU, condemning the bloc's spending in neighborhood countries as "lack of effectiveness."

"EU spending on migration in the neighborhood countries will only be effective if clear objectives are set, if funds are allocated to well-defined priorities, and if governance and the coordination between EU bodies and with member states are improved," said Daniele Lamarque, the member of the European Court of Auditors responsible for the report.

Moreover, the EU member states are also slow in delivering on their refugee relocation and resettlement commitments.

The EU's temporary emergency relocation scheme was established in September 2015, according to which EU countries committed to relocate 160,000 people from Italy and Greece by September 2017.

EU countries also promised to resettle 22,504 persons in clear need of international protection in June 2015, the so-called European resettlement scheme.

However, on the eve of the summit, an implementation report published by the European Commission showed the pace of transfers is far from satisfactory.

The schemes have had a poor track record among EU member states. A total of 937 asylum seekers had been relocated from Greece and Italy as of March 15, with EU leaders at the time setting a 54,000 target by September 2016.

The report said the lack of political will among EU member states has been the most important factor in slowing down the process.

Besides, the visa liberalization between the EU and Turkey was not regarded an optimistic signal.

"Giving visa-free access to Turkey will mean increased numbers of people coming to Europe," tweeted Nigel Farage, Member of the European Parliament for the South East of England.

He also threatened to say that "I feel more confident than ever that Turkey IN means Britain OUT."

Whether this deal with Turkey will be successfully implemented, and whether it does help curb the influx of migrants, are still unknown.

Moreover, whether the exchange of acceleration of Turkey's accession and visa liberation for the solution to the migrant crisis is worthwhile, and whether it would bring unpredictable consequences that would be out of control, are unknown, too.

For the EU, the only choice it can make is to go forward, and no retreat. Endit