I am delighted to be among you today to exchange views on a quintessential aspect of our Union’s external relations: the transatlantic relationship.
As the European Union’s role in global affairs continues to grow, so does the importance of the US-EU global partnership, and with it, the role of the Delegation of the European Parliament for relations with the United States.
The work this Delegation has been doing, for the past 45 years has been vital in reinforcing the foundations of our bridges across the Atlantic.
Working with the US Congress, the dialogue you have with American legislators is indispensable for furthering our relations with our most important strategic partner, especially at a time where the transatlantic ship has sailed into troubled waters.
I would like to sincerely thank you therefore for the invitation to be here today.
When I took up my duties as European Commissioner for Migration and Home Affairs, I could never have predicted that security and migration would be propelled to the very top of the global political agenda.
The parallel crises we faced from 2014 onwards, with the migratory flows into Europe and the successive terrorist attacks on our soil, forced us to rethink our strategy on both fronts.
Strengthening our external borders. Stepping up information exchange and operational work to fight terrorism and radicalisation. Putting on the table a comprehensive Agenda on Migration to deal with the crisis in all its dimensions.
In all this work, but particularly in the area of security, the transatlantic relationship has been a key element in our efforts – both as a partner in the operational theatre but also as a source of ideas in how we confront terrorism.
Our security cooperation through NATO is a prime example. President Trump is in town tomorrow, and he has been insisting that the European countries are not contributing enough to our collective defence.
I refer to what President Juncker said today when he signed the new EU-NATO Joint Declaration – and this is valid both for defence and security: The EU and NATO share the same commitment to making people safe and more secure.
We share the same values – and the same attachment to freedom and democracy. We face many of the same challenges and threats.
So it has never made more sense to cooperate together and complement each other’s work. We are autonomous, yes, but we work together.
We do things sometimes differently, but we make sure they are coherent with each other’s work. And we have different strengths which we use to help one another.
Now, at a time when domestic US politics very frequently cause trouble in the transatlantic partnership, we must remember not to lose sight of one extremely important axiom: Governments come and go. States stay.
History has taught us this from times immemorial. We should draw the lessons of history and look beyond the transient ups and downs of politics.
Our shared values with the US are real. Our cooperation is indispensable because it is tangible and it produces action on the ground.
There are plenty of examples. Migrant smuggling and the trafficking of human beings: More than 20 American liaison officers are stationed at Europol. A Europol Liaison officer is seconded to the US.
Europol, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security very recently worked together with our Member States in Operation Blue Sentinel, which dismantled a massive network of smugglers and document forgers from Syria, Iraq and other conflict zones.
Second example: drugs. We know that the US is facing a true opioid crisis. Our cooperation with the US within the United Nations Framework against fentanyls, has produced concrete outcomes in restricting the supply and controlling the demand or synthetic opioids at global level.
Third and most important: our cooperation on countering terrorism.
Here of course we are not only talking about shared common values: our shared global approach with the US on terrorism is a necessity because of the shared threats we face.
It is natural therefore that cooperation on fighting terrorism and information sharing are among the most productive areas of cooperation with the United States.
It is this close EU-US relationship that has been driving global cooperation against terrorism within the UN, at the Global Counter-Terrorism Forum and through the Global Coalition against Daesh.
It is again this close relationship that has produced critical and actionable information, via our passenger name records and terrorist financing agreements, as well as information against travelling foreign terrorist fighters, and the threat picture on aviation security.
Aviation is a particular example where the value of our relationship – both at a strategic and personal level – has proved its worth.
Exactly one year ago, the US had banned personal electronic devices from flights originating in certain countries in the Middle East.
Rumours were flying that European airports were next.
That is when I took the initiative to open a frank and comprehensive dialogue with our American partners on the issue – to share all our intelligence, to compare our assessment of the threats and to agree on common actions together.
At the time, my interlocutor at the Department of Homeland Security was John Kelly, – current Chief of Staff at the White House – with whom we had developed an extremely close relationship of trust and honest cooperation on the global security agenda.
Working closely on this basis, we agreed with then Secretary Kelly that shared threats necessitate shared solutions, and produced a common 10-point action plan to raise the global bar on aviation security.
These actions are now implemented on the ground across all European airports with positive outcomes. And this cooperation, as I said earlier, is not only on the direct and operational aspects. In the area of security, the US is also a source of learning in terms of best practices on the ground.
The fact that the EU is now much better prepared to face a new migratory crisis than it was in 2015, with significant efforts and resources on security and border management, is not irrelevant to the lessons we learnt from our American friends.
Take the example of our fully-fledged European Border and Coast Guard Agency and the involvement of Europol in carrying out secondary security checks on suspicious migrants.
The European Border and Coast Guard Agency will soon be further upgraded in its mandate and resources to become a genuine European Border Police: not to turn Europe into a fortress, but to ensure our external perimeter is as strong as it should be to deal with migratory pressures and security threats.
Our strategy on Stronger and Smarter Information Systems was also very much inspired by what the US did after 9/11:interoperable, inter-connected, searchable and intelligently built systems, reachable with one click,by all actors involved in security, migration and border management.
At our external borders, our information systems, such as Eurodac, the Schengen Information System, the Visa Information System, Interpol, and customs’ databases will soon be working seamlessly together, in full respect of data protection and fundamental rights.
Our future European Travel Information and Authorisation System – ETIAS – is also very much inspired by the American ESTA system for visa free travellers. It will be a system that will not only help us prevent irregular migration from visa free countries.
It will become a key aspect of our security framework, by ensuring a thorough security screening of all visa-free travellers, before they arrive in Europe.
There is a point of course where similarities stop, and divergences become more pronounced – especially when it comes to border management and the respect for human rights.
We have all seen the shocking scenes recently of migrant families being separated at the US-Mexico border.
Here I can say it loud and clear, that the European Union will never become estranged from its founding democratic principles of respect for human rights, of tolerance,of equality, of freedoms.
It is by defending and further promoting those values that we can ensure that the global challenge of migration can be managed in an orderly and sustainable manner, which complies with international law and basic morality.
And this matters not just for our management of migration, but for our security also.
It is easy to point fingers and identify scapegoats for all problems, especially when they are religious or ethnic minorities.
Our values make us who we are – both here in Europe, in the US and across the globe. We should never lose sight of that.
This brings me to my final point, which concerns another area of divergence with the US: – the visa free travel between the United States and the European Union.
This is an issue where you, the members of this Delegation, can help in a concrete and tangible way.
Since 2014, I have been working hard to ensure that our citizens enjoy reciprocal visa-free travel with the US.
We achieved full visa liberalisation with Canada for citizens from Bulgaria and Romania.
But the US remains elusive, and it is the only remaining country in the world that does not provide full visa reciprocity to all our Member States.
The message I call on you to pass to your counterparts in the US Congress is simple: full visa reciprocity for all EU Member States IS in the security interests of the US.
The Visa Waiver Program enables the US to vet travellers before they arrive in the US for links to serious crime and terrorism.
The Visa Waiver Programme requirements need to become as objective as possible for our Member States.
All relevant information on the requirements still to be met should be shared with Member States concerned, so they can take appropriate action.
I stressed this point in the discussions that took place at the last Ministerial Meeting with the US in Sofia.
And I also emphasised once again, that we do not want to resort to retaliation and unilateral measures.
But we will not hesitate to use the means at our disposal, if we see that there is no clear perspective of progress.
You can sensitise the US Congress to the risk for our partnership and our relations. EU citizens are not a threat to US security.
For the few that may potentially be, we have the security framework in place to neutralise the threats.
Dear Members,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am an optimist by nature. While acknowledging divergences, I prefer to take a long view of politics.
We should never lose sight of the fact that the EU-US relationship is deeply rooted in the bonds of our shared history.
This will never change. Politics is transient. Our shared values with the US are real. It is these values that cement our partnership.
Security and migration are at the top of the global political agenda because they touch all of us.
They are the top concerns of our citizens.
And they will continue to be for the foreseeable future.
For this reason, the transatlantic relationship is indispensable when it comes to ensuring a secure and sustainable future for our societies and our economies.
You have a key role to play in deepening and broadening this relationship in a very tangible sense.
For that I would like to thank you, and to call on you to sustain your close engagement with your US counterparts, and to urge the next Parliament to continue on this path.
Thank you for your attention, and I look forward to your interventions.