Video: https://youtu.be/JDkEf_-YVb0
We are back – it is the very first Council after the summer break, and I look forward to having a very fruitful and constructive discussion with the Ministers both on migration and security. On migration, the numbers of flows have gone down by 81% during last August compared to the situation one year ago. But we have to do more. We have to build on what we have achieved so far. First of all, we have to keep working, cooperating with third countries, especially African countries and support Libya without neglecting the Eastern Mediterranean where the situation is much better to what was before. The numbers have gone down thanks to the continuous implementation of the EU-Turkey Statement mostly. We have to step up resettlement, to continue resettling people, especially the ones who are in need of protection; more places have to be created and the number we have proposed is approximately 40,000 now. We have also to step up returns for the ones who do not have the right to stay and adopt legal pathways for the ones who want to come to Europe. Through legal migration we can stop losing lives in the seas.
On security, the recent attacks have shown that the threat is there. We have to keep working and cooperating with all stakeholders in order to ensure more security first of all for our citizens, to step up cooperation and interoperability, keep exchanging information and fostering trust between us. We have to better protect public spaces and the lives of our citizens. This will be the framework within which our discussions will take place today. One final remark, on migration: during the last two years we have been working in crisis mode; now it is the moment to step out of the crisis and work under a more ordinary, better concerted and organised way in order to get out of this mode. I believe that we shall be in a position to manage this dramatic situation and give an end to this phenomenon that has costed lives; but on the other hand it was the moment for the EU to adopt a common policy on migration and security.