Strasbourg, 20 May 2015
Honourable Members of the European Parliament;
After years in which we have seen migrants dying at our doorstep; in which we have seen the trust of our citizens in the European Institutions diminish, it was time to be visionary and bold.
It was time for the European Commission to fulfil its fundamental role as the engine of European integration, taking action on the big challenges of our times.
And migration is one of these big challenges. Last year over 620.000 persons have asked for protection in Europe.
The numbers for 2015 show that even that peak may be mild in comparison to the one we will record this year. 70,000 asylum applications are already lodged every month in the EU since the beginning of 2015. More than 80,000 migrants have reached our shores.
And let me be very clear: this is not due to any “pull factor”. This is because our immediate neighbourhood is on fire. It is because we are living at a time of instability and Europe is seen as a refuge at times of crisis.
It is time we start being responsible about it. Recognising that we need to start acting together in Europe.
The Agenda we have adopted is more ambitious than that: We are proposing to act together on the global stage, because managing migration is a shared responsibility across the world.
The approval of a Common Security and Defence policy mission in the Mediterranean on Monday by the Council and the efforts of Federica Mogherini to get the UN to pass a resolution that will allow Europe to take decisive actions against the criminal networks is a perfect example of this global vision.
This effort is part of the immediate response that the European Agenda on Migration suggests in order to deal with the pressure in the Mediterranean and to give an immediate and solid follow up to the deliberations of this Parliament and of the Heads of States and Government.
We are doing so by expanding our capacity to save lives through the tripling of Frontex–led joint operations Triton and Poseidon and by adopting an action plan to fight migrants smuggling in order to respond to two fundamental and simple questions that we felt remained open.
The first question is: “What do we do with those we rescue?”
We thought it was time to give a true European response to such fundamental and simple questions. One where every Member State would do its fair share in order to promote the fundamental values of humanity and solidarity on which this Union is built.
This is why next week, the Commission will propose the triggering of Article 78(3) of the Treaty. An emergency mechanism that was thought exactly for situations such as those we are facing today: “a sudden inflow of nationals of third countries”.
The mechanism will allow transferring those who are in clear need of protection from the frontline States towards the other Member States.
In the past days, since the adoption of the Agenda I have heard many complaining that this system is too much oriented to the Mediterranean. Let me be very clear: what we are building today is not only an emergency response for the current pressure; it is an emergency mechanism to be applied in the future wherever the pressure will emerge.
Those who will help today will be those who may need help tomorrow. I think that this is what solidarity truly means in practice.
The second question is: “What do we do with those that today use the smugglers in order to seek the protection they deserve?”
If we are serious in the fight against the smugglers to the point of going to the UN Security Council, we need to be equally serious in opening alternative and legal avenues to come to Europe.
Again, this is an effort where Europe needs to act as one. With a common and consistent approach.
This is why the Commission has proposed a resettlement scheme to transfer 20.000 refugees to Europe from third countries, showing much needed solidarity with our neighbours who are already taking the brunt of the crisis in Syria and in Libya.
The Commission will make available 50 million euros in order to support the Member States.
These two mechanisms will be based on a distribution key developed according to objective and clear criteria. I’m ready to discuss about the criteria retained but let’s be clear; we should not hide behind this discussion to do nothing.
Beyond the immediate actions, the European Agenda on Migration also responds to the more fundamental challenges that the European society faces.
It is an Agenda that looks at the medium to long term, in order to lead the way towards a truly common European Migration policy in the European Union.
In line with the priorities identified by President Juncker in the Political Guidelines we have built around four key pillars:
Strengthening our capacity to fight irregular migration: the Commission will adopt next week an action plan on smuggling and will reinforce the role of Frontex in return operations;
Protecting migrants in need of international protection: the Commission will promote and monitor the full implementation of the Common European Asylum System and will take actions to fight abuses;
Strengthening the shared management of our external borders: Frontex will be reinforced and more coherent standards will be developed;
The EU’s demographic and skills needs mean that legal migration will be a necessary part of our future. The Commission intends to develop a new policy on legal migration starting with the revision of the Blue Card directive.
The principle is very simple. Europe will extend a helping hand to those in need and will strive to attract those we need, but this will be balanced by strong and targeted action for those who try to abuse our system.
As I said our objective is to give a comprehensive response, one that encompasses also the enormous demographic challenges Europe faces.
While the working age population in the European Union will decline by 17.5 million, foreign skilled workers that can complement our own will be important to support Europe’s economic development.
The Agenda is about concrete actions and initiatives, which are realistic and can be implemented if we all take part consistently to this shared effort. For this, I need the support of this House, who has always been in the forefront advocating true and effective solidarity.
More than ensuring that the current system delivers its full potential, the Agenda finally launches parallel reflections for deepening our future European cooperation in the field of migration. This includes ideas such as the establishment of a European single asylum decision-making process or a European Border Guards System.
Honourable Members, I am looking forward to hear your reactions.