The European Union's executive is poised to sign off on Turkey's bid for visa-free entry to the bloc Wednesday, officials said, though concerns that Ankara's broad antiterrorism powers curtail basic rights still pose a hurdle to final approval.

European leaders have set the end of June as a target date for approving visa-free travel to the EU for Turks as part of a March deal in which Turkey agreed to help stem the flow of migrants by taking back thousands who have reached Greece from its shores.

In a report to be presented Wednesday, the European Commission is expected to say that Turkey has met 65 of the 72 conditions to qualify for visa-free access, enough to recommend the step.

The final decision, though, goes to EU governments and the bloc's lawmakers, who have long been cautious about the change. EU officials and diplomats warn that to win their backing, Ankara must show progress on some of the toughest remaining issues, which strike at the heart of European concerns about rule-of-law in Turkey.

Those items include revisions to sweeping antiterrorism laws to safeguard fair trials and freedom of speech and assembly, and changes to data protection laws to ensure authorities can't abuse the information. Ankara has repeatedly sidestepped such demands in the past.

"The Turks have done a lot in the last six months" to meet the EU's conditions for visa-free entry "but much of that has been easy and medium- easy," one EU official said. "They still have some of the toughest issues" to complete.

Turkey's visa-free push has moved with lightning speed since the migrant deal was struck. The stakes grew in late April, when Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu warned that if Europe failed to sign off on the visa-free travel issue by the end of June, Ankara might abandon its commitment on migrants. The process of gaining visa-free access to the EU often takes years.

Commission officials say they have respected the rules in advancing Turkey's bid. Still, Turkey has benefited from exceptional short cuts. The EU's executive is preparing to approve the move—which would grant Turkey's 79 million citizens visa-free access for a stay of up to 90 days—before Ankara demonstrates its ability to implement all of the changes demanded by Brussels.

"There's a distinction with other visa-liberalization processes in that previously we looked at the track record and here we look at the laws," one EU official said.

EU member states have already started to arm themselves in case of backsliding by Turkey. Last week, officials started discussing a mechanism that would make it easier to suspend visa-free agreements in the future.

Since March, Turkey has moved rapidly to pass legislation required by the EU. It has adopted a law to remove obstacles for international cooperation on criminal matters and to strengthen data-privacy laws. On Tuesday, Turkey also lifted visa requirements for EU member states. That move will allow Cypriot citizens to come to Turkey without a visa while setting aside the thornier issue that Turkey doesn't recognize the Greek Cypriot government in Nicosia.

But Ankara has so far refused to budge on Brussels' demands to curb tough national-security and counterterrorism laws, a reluctance that has grown since peace talks with Kurdish separatists in the country's southeast collapsed last year. Since June, Kurdish and Islamist militants have carried out a string of suicide bombings across Turkey, killing more than 220 civilians, soldiers and policemen.

Turkish authorities have detained hundreds of alleged members of terrorist organizations. Two journalists have gone on trial for allegedly seeking to topple the state for their reporting on Turkey's clandestine arms shipments to Syria. Four academics who signed a petition calling for peace with Kurdish insurgents are also now on trial.

EU member states and the European Parliament have sharpened their criticism of Turkey. In April, a parliament report accused Ankara of "backsliding" on freedom of speech and judicial independence.

The differences between Brussels and Ankara were on display in March when Ankara adopted personal data-protection legislation. Despite repeated EU warnings, Turkish lawmakers kept sweeping national-security exceptions to the law, which the EU has insisted must be curtailed.

A Turkish failure to meet the requirements wouldn't only threaten the migration deal. It could also prevent efforts for greater cooperation on fighting Islamic State. The EU wants to boost intelligence sharing, police operations and judiciary cooperation but is concerned that Turkey may use the information against its own citizens, European officials say.

After years of mutual mistrust, Ankara and Brussels have seized on the migration crisis to re-energize talks, said Selim Yenel, Turkey's envoy to the EU. Failing to move forward would "poison" the relationship, he warned, adding that Turkey had done everything possible to meet EU demands.

"We've done a herculean job," said Mr. Yenel. "We're not shying form criteria, we're meeting them."

Valentina Pop in Brussels contributed to this article.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 04, 2016 00:15 ET (04:15 GMT)