VIENNA
The European Commission has begun legal action against Austria for failing to provide a legislation to guarantee the rights of workers of Turkish nationality and their families.
The commission referred Austria to the Court of Justice on Thursday over its alleged non-compliance with EU-Turkey association law based on the Ankara agreement.
In April, it called on the Austrian government to enact legislation aimed at enhancing the visa and residence conditions of Turkish citizens, but Austria declined to act.
According to the commission, Austrian legislation had areas which led to the worsening of the legal status of Turkish workers and family members, which is “in breach of the standstill clauses of the Turkey-EU association law.”
In a separate development, the minimum age for spouses of Turkish origin to be eligible to be united with their families in Austria was raised from 18 to 21 along with other restrictions.
The Commission urged Austria to adopt the necessary amendments to its law, which is binding as Austria has been a member of European Union since 1995.
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