Europe is right here in front of you, supporting Italy which is bearing on its shoulders an important share of the responsibility in the refugee crisis.
With the inauguration of the new building of the EU Regional Task Force, we have taken another important step in consolidating our hotspot approach here in Italy.
Four hotspots are already operational. A fifth one is urgently needed in Sicily.
We are working quite closely on this with the Italian government and with the Italian authorities. That is the mission of this Regional Taskforce.
Instead of monitoring or supervising the work from afar, the EU Regional Taskforce will coordinate the work of the teams of experts from Frontex, EASO and Europol and will streamline the exchange of information.
As I have repeatedly said during my previous visits in Italy: in this crisis, this very complex situation Italy is not alone. Europe is standing by Italy.
The opening of the EU Regional Taskforce is another tangible example of European solidarity for a country which is at the frontline of the crisis.
More migrants have arrived recently in Italy. And more are expected to arrive. We have to be very careful and surely better equipped. Compared to what was the situation one year ago, things have completely changed.
But it is true to say that Europe is here side by side to the MS like Greece and Italy.
Europe was not prepared. MSs were not prepared. Europe did its best to adopt common policies to tackle this emergency.
We made important steps ahead but we are not there yet. All the member states must show responsibility and solidarity. This is the moment to do it.
All the MSs must implement the decisions we have jointly taken at the European level.
Coming back to Catania, what we are inaugurating today underscores the importance of optimising the operability of the hotspots with the EU Regional Taskforce.
We also need of more experts from Member States to sustain our efforts. I hope that they will continue to respond to the ongoing calls of the Agencies. Hotspots perform extremely important tasks.
The first mission of hotspots is the screening, fingerprinting, and registration of all migrants. They also allow for better organising the return of migrants who are not eligible for protection in Europe. Hotspots have to respond to these requests.
Ultimately the hotspots are the prototype of true shared management of migration at the European level. And they also increase security.
Hotspots are also intrinsically linked to relocation and this also needs to be stepped up by the Member States.
Minister Alfano shared with me his idea to set up a floating or mobile hotspot. We are open to open to explore this idea. It is clear that before anything else we need to consider all the issues which may undermine the implementation of this proposal, also from a legal point of view.
For us it is very important that we consider the different experience at European level of the individual national authorities and MSs in order to see to what extent such measures can be effective.
We will report on exactly what you have done here in Catania.
Before I conclude I would also like to express my thanks to I would like to thank Minister Angelino Alfano and Mayor Enzo Bianco for the excellent cooperation – for the mayor himself and for the city of Catania – for providing the premises for the EU Regional Taskforce here in Catania.
I’d also like to thank you the entire population of Catania, of this region and of Italy for having welcomed with warm humanity all these desperate people who reached your costs.
The approach with Italian people demonstrated a very high level of civilization and openness with regard to this issue. Rest assured that the Commission and I personally will continue to work hand-in-hand with Italy to manage the crisis together.