ECJ clears the way to Europe for Turkish entrepreneurs

A landmark ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has cleared the way for thousands of Turkish citizens who want to settle in the United Kingdom and elsewhere in countries of the European Union.

The ECJ said Friday, in its ruling, that the Home Office must grant residence permits to Mehmet Darı and Veli Tüm, two Turkish citizens, though their presence in the country is deemed illegal.

Turkish citizens who have temporary admission or who have overstayed can apply to get residence permits if they can prove that they can be self-employed and have the means for it.

This ruling will set an example for thousands of similar cases in the U.K. and other EU countries. Turkey signed an agreement with the then European Economic Community in 1963, and an additional protocol regulating its implementation in 1973, which exempted Turkish citizens who can prove that they can be self-employed, from visa obligations.

When Darı and Tüm’s application to the Home Office for a residence permit was refused in 2002, the High Court of Justice in the U.K. ruled in their favor. When the Home Office took the case to the Court of Appeal, it once again got a negative result. The Home Office struggled on however, and petitioned the House of Lords, which in turn submitted the case to the ECJ.

The case was listed in the ECJ in Luxembourg in May 2006. It was decided that the Advocate General give his opinion to the European Court on Sep. 12, 2006, coincidentally the same date in 1963 when the European Community Association Agreement was signed.

The chief prosecutor of the ECJ opted for a negative outcome, but the Court severed the link between settlement conditions of Turkish citizens and their arrival circumstances, said Ayşegül Yeşildağlar, labor attaché at Turkey’s Embassy in London during a press conference.

The ECJ ruled that the Home Office has to consider European Community Association Agreement applications using the rules that existed in 1970. These rules do not require the person wanting to apply to have prior visas from Turkey. It means that those in the U.K. can apply to become self-employed without having to go first to Turkey.

Massive implications for Turks

The Home Office cannot force heavier conditions than those cited in the Ankara Agreement. The first such case was that of Abdülnasır Savaş in 2000 and the ECJ’s verdict was in his favor. But his entry to the U.K. was legal in contrast to Darı and Tüm’s illegal entry, on which the Home Office based its opinion to deny a residence permit.

The Court also ruled that it is irrelevant whether the applicant is an asylum seeker or has had his application refused as is the case of Darı, and the Home Office must consider the application. The implications are huge. The Home Office feared that the flood gates would open into Europe. Every member country of the European Union will have to take this decision into consideration.

And the decision is very clear, there are no ambiguities, no loopholes. Any business plan from Turkish citizens that can prove to be capable of sustaining the applicant will be considered by the U.K. for a residence permit.