Video: https://youtu.be/Nl5T6UltZBM
Dear all,
First of all, let me take this opportunity to warmly thank the Slovak Presidency and Robert Kalinak, for continuing to deliver excellent work in the Justice and Home Affairs Council meetings.
In today’s meeting, I also had the opportunity to introduce for the first time to the Ministers my new colleague Julian King, the Commissioner for the Security Union.
He is with us to support and reinforce our work on improving security in Europe, and I look forward to his contribution in that respect.
But first, starting with migration, I think we can all agree that the situation is better than last year – though the situation is still very fragile in Italy, Greece and Bulgaria, but also in other Member States that have to deal with a high number of asylum applications, irregular migrants to return and refugees to integrate.
I welcome the commitment of all Member States to deliver on their commitments.
In the last few months, many Member States have increased their efforts on relocation and resettlement, demonstrating what is possible, if the political will is there.
I encouraged the Ministers to continue delivering like this, and the Commission will continue supporting Member States with all available means to further accelerate the implementation of the relocation and resettlement schemes, as well as the full implementation of the EU-Turkey Statement.
The migration challenges cannot only be addressed inside Europe. We have to work with our external partners.
Today we had a fruitful discussion on the Migration Partnership Framework which is a key element to reduce irregular migration flows and improve returns of irregular migrants.
Today, we have not only discussed about the measures to address the immediate needs, but also how to build a more resilient European migration and asylum policy to face future challenges.
Progress has been reached on the reform of Eurodac and to create a new European Asylum Agency, and I hope we can reach an agreement by the end of the year.
Following the official launch of the European Border and Coast Guard last week, we discussed the next steps to fully operationalise the new agency within the coming months.
For this, I called on the Member States to be fully engaged to set up for instance the pool of experts.
However, better managing our external borders in order to reduce irregular arrivals means also that we have to enhance pathways for people in need of protection to come legally.
This is why we had an intensive discussion on the EU resettlement framework.
All these elements are inter-linked and crucial building blocks of a sustainable and future-proof European migration and asylum policy.
Finally, managing our external borders better is also essential to improve our security.
The key element here is exchange of information.
We all agreed that we have to know who is crossing our external borders.
For that, we already have proposals on the table for systematic checks of EU citizens at our external borders, and for an EU entry-exit system.
These changes to our border management are urgent to improve our security.
The Member States and the European Parliament need to move quickly and adopt them into law still this year.
I have also informed the Ministers that next month I will propose an EU Travel Information and Authorisation System, similar to the US ‘ESTA’.
So to conclude: a fruitful Home Affairs Council meeting today, and a full, ambitious agenda for the months ahead.
There is great willingness and commitment to continue moving forward.
For me, this can only happen together, in a spirit of solidarity and responsibility. I look forward to our important work in the weeks and months ahead.
Thank you.