The European Commission has said it favours proposals to give Turkish citizens visa-free travel across the EU, despite Turkey not yet having met all the criteria originally required of it. 

In a statement, the Commission said that it was giving its assent to the deal on the condition that Turkey fulfilled remaining benchmarks "as a matter of urgency." 

The proposal must be approved by the European Parliament and Council of Ministers before it passes into EU law.

Commission vice-president Frans Timmermans said Turkey had made "impressive" progress in recent weeks on meeting the benchmarks of its visa liberalisation roadmap. 

Turkey had repeatedly threatened to annul a migration pact it reached with the EU in March unless visa-free travel was included in the deal. As part of that agreement, Turkey agreed to repatriate refugees from Greece. In exchange, the EU has promised to shelter to up to 72,000 Syrians living in Turkey, as well as granting it up to €6 billion in European funds over the next five years.

The proposals for visa-free travel would apply to all EU member states except for Ireland and the UK, which have their own visa requirements, and to the four Schengen associated countries (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland). Visa-free travel would be valid for up to 90 days. 

In a statement, the European Parliament Conference of Presidents said that it was opposed to the way the deal was struck. 

"There will be no shortcut in parliamentary procedures," the statement said, "and this means a proposal only once all benchmarks have been fulfilled."