Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am honoured to be with you here today to speak about one of the current main global challenges:
managing migration in the face of the worst displacement crisis since the ’90s.
Migration management is today, more than ever essential for the cohesion and growth of the European Union.
Europe is facing an acute geopolitical crisis in its periphery and borders.
Migration management is a challenge impacting global stability.
The European Union faces the consequences of instability in its immediate neighbourhood.
Events like the Arab Spring, the present conflict in Syria and the crisis in Libya
challenge our migration policy and heighten calls for adequate responses from the European Union:
in 2014 around 600.000 persons sought asylum in the European Union,
almost twice as many as in 2012 and one third more than in 2013.
At the same time tens of thousands attempted to cross the Mediterranean.
Over 170.000 migrants were rescued by the Italian sea operation Mare Nostrum and more than 3000 lost their lives in 2014.
We are confronted with continuing loss of lives of persons attempting to cross the Mediterranean this year.
Moreover, the EU is facing demographic challenges, shrinking populations in many Member States, growing dependency ratio,
and severe labour shortages, especially in certain sectors.
One of the solutions to this challenge is inward migration.
Simultaneously, the support of the EU citizens for our policies is shrinking:
in a recent survey 57% of European citizens expressed negative views concerning migration of third-country nationals to the European Union.
This phenomenon is likely to have been reinforced in the aftermath of the Paris attacks and the raising polarisation within our societies,
including along ethnic and religious lines.
Populist movements exploit the situation by passing messages which build around a dual narrative of exclusion:
(1) we need to exclude migrants from our economy to start growing again;
(2) our physical safety depends on the exclusion of migrants from our societies.
This Commission is determined to stop the eroding and dangerous effects of populism in Europe.
And the only way to negate the narrative of populism is to be effective.
To provide European solutions that will safeguard at the same time security and fundamental rights.
The EU cannot afford to react by closing its borders. The EU is facing the fundamental challenge to stay an open continent.
We continue enjoying the advantages of free movement within the Schengen area,
and the EU is able to guarantee international protection to people who deserve it, the same time European Union must ensure a high level of security.
That is why the European Commission intends to present a comprehensive approach in an European Agenda on Migration in the course of 2015.
The primary aim of the Agenda on Migration will be to establish a solid new narrative, one that can shape the future debates.
It is obvious that we cannot achieve results by acting alone.
We need to build coalitions in order to face global challenges.
We need to further
strengthen cooperation with third countries of transit and origin.
This cooperation must take place in an integrative approach linking migration management with broader foreign policy considerations,
development assistance and humanitarian actions.
At the same time we should also learn from other partner countries which face similar challenges as the EU.
Despite differences with the EU related to geography,
the U.S. and Canada are paradigms. Thus despite the security concerns
the migration flows are being opened and used in order to contribute to the economic growth.
I would like to refer now to the area of asylum policy.
First, trust between EU Member States has been strained by the clearly unbalanced distribution of asylum seekers across the EU.
Only five out of our 28 EU Member States (DE, SE, IT, FR and UK) receive more than 70% of all asylum applications.
Four of them are in addition among the top resettling countries of the EU.
This situation can be attributed to a number of factors: it is partially due to continuing divergences in the recognition practice.
Furthermore it is attributable to the reception and protection conditions in the different EU Member States, if not real deficiencies of the system.
It is also due to the political choices of Member States, which have been different.
Yet, a fairer distribution of asylum seekers among EU Member States is however a prerequisite for managing the current pressure on the EU.
It is therefore vital that all Member States fully implement the Common European Asylum System.
Thus an effective, safe and fair access to the asylum procedure and processing of applications will be achieved.
My services have started to work on a pilot project regarding a fair allocation / distribution key for a certain number of resettled refugees.
Second, beyond the EU itself, the reality is that the refugee ‘burden’ is distributed globally in a very uneven manner.
A disproportionate responsibility is being placed on the shoulders of some of the world’s least developed countries.
Third, I would point to the increasing phenomenon of facilitated irregular migration.
This ‘mixed migration’ flow is being facilitated by the growing business of people smugglers.
Dealing with the consequences of this phenomenon is placing an increasing strain on our resources
and on the political openness of our governments and of public opinion.
To respond to these latter two challenges, the number of refugees that can be resettled in EU countries should be increased.
The EU and Member States must work together to establish a truly European programme for the resettlement of refugees.
At the same time the EU will continue to support ongoing efforts financially.
Always in accordance with certain common geographic priorities and vulnerability criteria.
While the use of resettlement is the primary legal avenue for seeking protection in the European Union,
I support Member States who also use other forms of legal access to protection.
These forms include asylum or humanitarian permits, broader family reunification or work-related migration possibilities for persons in need of protection.
Fourth, another reality is that many of the countries that are hosting refugees are not providing them with adequate protection.
Neither with a prospect of social integration.
It is thus our objective to help the States which are sheltering refugees directly, through financial assistance.
The EU (incl. Member States) is the largest donor of humanitarian assistance to the Syrian relief effort …
But helping these States should not only take the form of giving them money.
We also need to build their capacities to provide protection themselves, in line with international standards.
The EU has been using so-called Regional Protection and Development Programmes (RDPPs) to this end.
We intend to intensify these efforts in the future.
Finally, we should make more use of the international institutional framework to master crises together.
The EU is already the second largest donor to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) – following the United States.
I am confident that the EU and United States can join forces more clearly in fora like the United Nations Refugee Agency to better coordinate our protection policies.
The international institutional framework should be continuously adapted to these challenges.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Addressing migration in Europe, is by no means an easy undertaking.
Nevertheless, the historic evolution of the EU was never about easy choices.
We have learned to grow and prosper through compromise and difficult choices.
Managing migration is all about managing the human capital of Europe.
The human capital that will ensure that Europe will remain an open society, forward looking, being at the same time an innovative and competitive economy.
At the same time, we have to make sure that Europe will stop at its borders crime and terrorism.
I am positive that this Commission will deliver results and will make the difference.
Europe will not suffocate because of fear.
Fear for the different,
Fear for the preservation of fundamental rights we hold dear in the western world.
This Commission is indeed Europe’s last chance to prove that there is future in the European project.