Video: https://youtu.be/hQuYoE7tpxs
Dear all,
Almost a year ago when we presented the Agendas on Migration and Security, I underlined the need to reform Dublin, the importance to look into legal ways to come to Europe, but also the advantages of smart borders and better exchange of information through our systems.
As concerns dealing with the immediate crisis, I was in Ankara earlier this week as the EU-Turkey agreement was being put into practice.
I had very constructive meetings with President Erdogan and PM Davutoglu where we discussed the next steps in the implementation of the EU-Turkey agreement, including protection guarantees for both Syrian and non-Syrian asylum seekers, visa liberalisation benchmarks and our cooperation on security matters and the fight against terrorism more specifically.
I have said before that Turkey is a partner of the EU, and that the EU is a partner of Turkey.
The Turkish authorities know this, and their commitment and engagement to deliver on outstanding issues and to improve cooperation with us was clear.
What has happened on Monday is only the start. We have to continue in full respect of EU and international rules and respect of fundamental rights. We need to ensure all necessary procedures in case of asylum requests.
I am in touch with NATO to step up fight against smugglers. Deployments in Greece of officers from Frontex and EASO are taking place gradually, and we have seen large numbers being deployed on the ground over the weekend and during the week. Frontex now has a total of almost 1,000 officers deployed in Greece and EASO has a total of around 100 officers deployed in Greece.
Now, turning to today. I am very satisfied by the forward looking ideas and measures that we are presenting to you today.
Today we open the discussion on how we want to improve and reform our asylum, migration and border system to be really future-proof.
With the reality that we will continue to face migratory pressures in the years to come, this is a discussion we need to have, and we need to have it now.
First, let me briefly complement what Frans said on asylum and legal avenues to the EU.
For asylum, we essentially have 3 objectives because it is clear that the system as it stands today is not working.
We need to:
share responsibility
reduce asylum shopping
prevent and sanction secondary movements.
On Dublin – we present 2 options for discussion, and in both cases asylum seekers will be automatically distributed across the Member States based on a distribution key – but each under different circumstances. Because the base line is that we need a fairer sharing of responsibility and more solidarity engrained in our system.
Let me be clear here however: we want an ambitious and substantial improvement of Dublin which leads to fairer outcomes for everyone. We will now open the discussion with Member States, the European Parliament and many different stakeholders before we present our concrete proposals.
But Dublin is only one part of the larger asylum puzzle, and that's why we will work towards further harmonisation of the Common European Asylum System – in order to address the other existing discrepancies, as Frans has mentioned.
That is why we will propose to turn the asylum procedures and qualifications directives into regulations to make them immediately applicable in national law, and why we will do a targeted revision of the reception conditions directive to ensure a more streamlined approach.
In addition, we will also expand the Eurodac Regulation to be able to check for all irregular entries at the external borders, not just in relation to asylum.
To complement all this, we will also reinforce the European Asylum Support Office in the same spirit as our plans to reform the Frontex agency, in the framework of the European border and Coast Guard.
Secondly, on legal avenues. As I have said before, if we want to close the backdoor to irregular migration, we have to open more windows for legal ways to Europe – both, for those who come to seek protection, and for those who come to contribute to our economy.
The European Parliament, NGOs, Media, have been talking a lot about the need of more legal channels – and this is exactly what we want to do.
Building on the existing resettlement scheme that we have, we want to go one step further and create a streamlined and structural EU system for resettlement, so all Member States can use the same mechanism.
On legal migration: reforming the Blue Card has been a priority for President Juncker from the beginning, and this is our delivery to that commitment.
Not only is the current system not flexible and attractive enough, but we simply also want to attract more highly skilled migrants because we will need them in the future. Even while we continue to invest in our existing workforce, the demographic decline will force us to seek talent from abroad.
Of course, it's not just about the Blue Card. We already have a whole range of legal migration instruments which facilitate entry for students and researchers, for seasonal workers, for family migrants, etc.
And we want to take a better look at what works well, and how we can better align these instruments for the future. At the same time, we need to design, together with Member States, legal migration packages for and with our partner countries, to ensure a balanced framework of cooperation on migration and mobility.
Finally, it's not just about coming to Europe – but also what happens afterwards.
And that is why I also want to emphasise that we are working on an Action Plan on Integration, for all third country nationals, but also focusing on refugees.
On borders: Today we propose to make our borders smarter and stronger, creating an EU entry-exit system to improve our external borders management, by better monitoring over-stayers.
Crossing an EU border will never be the same again. It will be automated, and done mostly through self-service kiosks and electronic gates.
At the same time, the administrative tasks of border guards will be reduced dramatically, allowing them to focus on where they add most value through their experience, professionalism and judgement.
Guards will stop stamping passports because they will be replaced by smart and quick electronic processes.
Queues for people from non-EU countries will be smaller, and travellers will have clear information on how long they can stay in the EU.
Authorities, on the other hand, will have critical, top quality information on all third-country nationals crossing the borders – regardless of whether they need visas or not.
Under strict conditions, we will give this information to law enforcement, giving them an additional tool to fight threats to our internal security.
To complement all this, today we also present our ideas on how to ensure stronger and smarter information systems on borders and security more generally. Our plan is to do away with all information silos, which is the reality in today's landscape.
Borders, law enforcement, customs, judicial authorities – at the moment, they all keep their data in boxes. Our data is not managed functionally or pragmatically. It is complex, fragmented and under-used. Often it is kept several times in several different places.
We have a labyrinth to manage our information systems. Key agents in border and security management cannot quickly access the information they need to do their job, for the strict purposes their job requires.
We want to break these silos.
In this framework, we present our vision for a future where, in full respect of fundamental rights and in particular data protection:
Authorities can search across systems through one click
Systems are interconnected and can talk to each other
All biometric data, like fingerprints, is kept in one place.
And where we have a common box of basic data for all information systems.
And all this in full respect of fundamental rights.
The discussion and process that we launch today shows how determined the Commission is to improve and strengthen our system to respond to the real needs of a new reality – whether that is asylum, migration border systems, or security.
We want to make our policies fit for purpose in the context of the challenges of the 21st century.
This means building on what we have achieved so far, but also being bold and honest to radically improve where needed.
And we are eager to take up the discussion now with the European Parliament and Council, to make all these ideas concrete.