Turkish citizens are on the cusp of being handed visa-free travel around the European Union pending a vote by the bloc's member states.

If passed, the agreement would grant Turkey's 75 million residents a tourist stay of 90 days.

It comes off the back of a deal with President Erdogan to allow refugees and migrants to be returned to the country from Greece after crossing the Aegean Sea in a bid to reduce the number of people attempting to reach mainland Europe.

A report on the subject will be formally made public by the European Commission on May 4, said a spokesperson at the EU institution.

"The European Commission will bring out the progress report tomorrow, and if they come to the decision that visa liberalisation should happen then the Council and the Parliament will have time to adopt the proposal," he told The Independent.

A final date for approval by the European Parliament could be in two months, the spokesperson said.

"It's part of the EU-Turkey agreement and it's also part of the long ongoing liberalisation dialogue with Turkey," he said.

"Turkey has made lots of efforts to fulfil the remaining benchmarks."

Refugees protest the migration deal with Turkey to remove them from Greece (Rex Features)

In order to win visa liberalisation for its citizens, Turkey has had to meet 72 benchmarks on security, data protection and more.

Not all of these benchmarks have yet been met - but Turkey has said it will "terminate" the migration deal if visa liberalisation is not granted.

Its citizens would have visa-free access to the Schengen area, which is 26 European countries who ceased border controls between each other in a 1995 agreement and which the UK is not signed up to.

"The dialogue over visa liberalisation has already been going on for about two years," said the spokesperson at the Commission.

"It has just been sped up."

Turkey's two million Syrian refugees Show all 11 1 /11 Turkey's two million Syrian refugees Turkey's two million Syrian refugees There are already over 2.5 million Syrian refugees in Turkey, but their current camps can only hold 200,000 people ADEM ALTAN/AFP/Getty Images Turkey's two million Syrian refugees Turkish citizens protest a new deal, also criticised by human rights activists, which will see refugees who arrived in Greece after March 20 be sent back to Turkey AP Photo/Emre Tazegu Turkey's two million Syrian refugees An estimated 80% of Syrian refugee children already in Turkey are unable to attend school BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images Turkey's two million Syrian refugees Refugee children beg for water near the Turkey-Syria border. Turkey has been accused of illegally deporting asylum-seekers back to Syria BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images Turkey's two million Syrian refugees In Turkey, no-one from outside Europe is legally recognised as a refugee, meaning the 2016 deportations may not meet international legal standards for protecting vulnerable people BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images Turkey's two million Syrian refugees A refugee child cries as she is searched by police at the Syria-Turkey border, where 16 refugees (including three children) have been shot dead in the last four months BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images Turkey's two million Syrian refugees Many refugees are living rough on the streets of cities such as Istanbul or Ankara (pictured) ADEM ALTAN/AFP/Getty Images Turkey's two million Syrian refugees Turkish soldiers use water cannon on Syrian refugees BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images Turkey's two million Syrian refugees Syrian refugees shelter from rain in the streets of Istanbul BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images Turkey's two million Syrian refugees A derelict building housing Syrian refugees in Istanbul Carl Court/Getty Images Turkey's two million Syrian refugees Turkey houses around half of all the refugees who have currently fled Syria Carl Court/Getty Images

The European Commission is made up of 28 commissioners from each member state with the UK represented by Lord Jonathan Hill.

It is intended to be a neutral body, not influenced by any particular national government, which puts forward legislation, enacts decisions and upholds EU treaties.

Meanwhile, Turkey is estimated to host more than 2.5 million Syrians and more than 80,000 Iraqi refugees.