"The EU and Turkey have agreed to accelerate the implementation of these commitments, which has already begun with the transfer of more than 300 undocumented migrants from Greece to Turkey," Hennis-Plasschaert said, speaking at the European Parliament on behalf of the EU Council.
Europe has been beset by a massive refugee crisis, with hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing conflict-torn countries in the Middle East and North Africa. The EU border agency Frontex detected over 1.83 million illegal border crossings in 2015.
In November 2015, the European Union and Turkey approved a joint plan to counter excessive immigration to the bloc, under which EU member states will give some $3.3 billion to Ankara and fast track negotiations for its accession to the bloc. In turn, Turkey is to help protect EU borders from illegal crossings and to resettle refugees that have managed to get to Europe from Turkey.