Dear Members of the European Parliament,
Dear Members of the National parliaments,
I am pleased to be here with you today to discuss the ongoing process towards the adoption, by the end of this year, of the United Nations Global Compacts on Refugees and for safe, orderly and regular Migration.
This is a critical moment in the history of international cooperation, and will define the legacy we leave behind us for future generations.
It is a unique opportunity to develop a broader common understanding on how to humanly and efficiently manage migration together, now and in the long term.
The European Union has an important role to play.
I was last week in New York to meet with UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, Special Representative for International migration, Louise Arbour, and the President of the United Nations General Assembly, the Slovak Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Lajcak.
They expect Europe to play a leading role in these negotiations.
Over the past three years, the European Union has already strengthened its cooperation with key partner countries.
It is in our interest that we consolidate the global cooperation.
Why? Because our citizens want us to better manage migration; Because this is not a national or European responsibility but a global one; and because we have to be ready for the future.
Indeed, we may face other crises in the future, but we cannot be unprepared anymore.
It is also timely from a European perspective as the migration situation is still fragile and our response must be further reinforced.
For each compact, we have to reach a good balance like the one we try to keep in our comprehensive migration policy.
The approach that we have developed ALL TOGETHER in Europe over the past 3 years has delivered results.
Indeed arrivals in 2017 are 28% lower than in 2014, before the crisis. Our EU external borders are better protected.
With our support, the living conditions of migrants in third countries have improved, especially in Turkey.
Asylum applications have decreased by 50% and Member States have speeded-up their assessment.
We have stepped up our efforts to return irregular migrants and increase the safe and legal access to Europe.
Our experience should find its place in the future compacts.
At the same time, the discussion on the Global Compacts should also be the occasion to change the narrative on migration in Europe and also globally.
And here I want to underline how much I rely on you, the members of the European Parliament and of the national parliaments, to convey messages to the European citizens on migration which are based on facts and not on myths.
In this context, allow me to share with you the following remarks on each Global compact.
Let me start with the Global Compact on Refugees.
The number of forcibly displaced persons worldwide today has surpassed the unprecedented number of 65.6 million. With the plight of refugees exacerbated these last few years, let’s be clear: obtaining a successful compact on this matter is an historical necessity.
The EU remains fully mobilized to address major drivers of forced displacement, to prevent new conflicts and resolve existing ones. Yet addressing the causes of displacement takes time. Fixing the situation in Syria will, for instance, take many years.
In the meantime, there is a great need for global responsibility sharing and solidarity in order to manage this record number of forced displaced persons.
The added value of the Global Compact on Refugees is to design sustainable solutions in order to be better equipped collectively, to prevent, react and manage flows of people fleeing war or persecutions on a global scale.
The global compact should ensure a better responsibility sharing among countries.
The European Union fully supports this goal.
Based on our experience over the past years, we know that we have to build crisis-resilient mechanisms to assist people in need of protection, both in Europe but also with our partners abroad.
In this respect, Europe is delivering on its commitments. In 2016, 672 000 received a protection status in Europe. In 2017, EU Member States have granted protection to 382 000 persons (mostly Afghans, Syrians and Iraqis).
At the same time, other countries, especially in the Middle East and in Africa, are hosting an even greater number of refugees.
It is our duty and interest to provide them with the support they need.
In this respect, the EU–Turkey statement is a good example of how we can support a country that shelters almost 3 million refugees.
The EU Facility for Refugees in Turkey, with a total budget of EUR 3 billion, proved to be the right tool to deliver practical support, from humanitarian aid to education, healthcare, municipal infrastructure and socio-economic assistance to refugees and host communities in Turkey.
After fleeing the war zone, people continue to move across countries until they find a safe haven. Supporting refugees in neighbouring countries is thus key to preventing people from embarking on long and dangerous journeys and from falling in the hands of ruthless smugglers and traffickers.
I therefore welcome all the mechanisms presented in the zero draft to coordinate the efforts to help countries hosting a large number of refugees.
We also need to enhance the legal pathways to relieve the pressure from those countries.
Over the past 2 years, Europe has made significant progress.
Through the implementation of the European resettlement scheme of July 2015, the EU-Turkey Statement of March 2016, around 27 000 refugees were resettled.
We want to go further and resettle 50 000 people over the next 2 years. Through the Global compact, more countries around the globe should engage in the resettlement path.
I also welcome all the operational measures proposed in terms of reception and admission.
A better coordinated approach is valuable for the security of all of us.
Proper screening of new arrivals and use of databases are important to better manage flows and assess people’s needs. This is key to identify vulnerable migrants, especially children and provide them with a tailored approach.
The essence of the Refugee Compact is that we cannot be complacent or idle about the future.
Yes we have collectively made important efforts to support both refugees but also neighbouring countries affected by the conflict in Syria, for example.
But that conflict is not over, unfortunately, – and situations like the Rohingya crisis remind us that other, parallel crises will spring up.
We have to be ready. This brings me to the Global Compact on Migration.
While the focus has recently been a lot on people fleeing conflict, we cannot forget that the majority of people today on the move, are not fleeing conflict.
Mobility will be a defining feature of our times.
The question is therefore not how to stop it, but how to better manage it, collectively.
I met the 2 co-facilitators in charge of drafting the Global Compact on safe, orderly and regular Migration earlier this afternoon. I thanked them for the balanced zero draft which forms a very good basis for the upcoming negotiations. I shared with them my view that the global compact can only be effective, if it clearly distinguishes between regular and irregular migration.
To make a step forward, all countries must recognize, as part of this global compact, that:
1) receiving countries will have to allow some people on their territory;
2) sending countries will have to readmit their own nationals who move irregularly.
We cannot ignore demographics, but we also cannot ignore economics.
Facilitating legal economic migration is one instrument among others to better manage migration.
If we manage it well, this can have an important positive impact for our economies and societies, for the migrants in question, and for the countries of origin.
This is why we are working with Member States to develop targeted pilot projects on legal migration with certain third countries.
At the same time, the economic situation in the hosting countries and their integration capacity should be taken into account, as well as the socio-economic situation in the countries of origin.
We also have to take seriously the fight against illegal employment while ensuring that decent work is provided to migrant workers legally residing on territories.
We also have to be honest, realistic and pragmatic: those who have no right to stay should be returned as quickly as possible.
Our citizens expect us to deliver on this.
We can only maintain and afford our hospitality for those who need it, if that hospitality is not abused by those who don’t.
The global compact should address the drivers of irregular migration and, in this respect, international development cooperation is key.
It should also clearly formulate an obligation for sending States to take back their own nationals.
Europe has already engaged with third-countries, such as Bangladesh, Guinea and Ethiopia, to discuss return and readmission.
The global compact on migration should support and further reinforce this progress.
Finally, we will have to come to terms with the fact that those who have a right to stay in our countries, whether they are refugees or other legally residing migrants, have to find their full place and role in our societies.
Investing in integration will be in both our social and economic interest, if we want to build cohesive societies for the future.
Dear colleagues,
There is no time to waste, and these 2 compacts come at the right moment.
We have to be bold and ambitious for the future – politically, operationally but also financially.
The EU and its Member States must speak with one voice in the international arena in order to reach an ambitious agreement on the two Global compacts at the end of this year.
It is in our interest to reach a common global understanding on how to manage flows of migrants and refugees worldwide.
I count also on all of you to engage in a constructive dialogue with your respective governments on the two Compacts. I will keep the European Parliament informed of the developments in the negotiations in New York and will be happy to come back to discuss with you this important atter.