Video: https://youtu.be/2HDFmV-Qc88
Dear Honourable Members,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear Ms Gabriel,
I am grateful for organising this conference and for inviting me to be with you here today.
The focus on our external borders could not be more topical.
Since this Commission took office, we have had to deal with two parallel crises: the migratory crisis, and the security crisis.
For both of these crises, our external border has been the connecting thread; a flash-point of extreme pressures, challenges, and fundamental questions about the way we move forward as a Union.
Whether we stick together as one indivisible Union of values, or whether we dissipate into separate, uncoordinated, and probably failing parts.
When I started my term as Commissioner, I never expected that we would be confronted with two simultaneous crisis on this portfolio.
Two crises, which much more than the financial crisis that was facing our Union at the time, would come to threaten the very existence of our Union itself.
It is a fact that none of us was prepared. Neither we, nor our Member States.
But with crisis and successive tragedies knocking on our door, even with some delay, we are today at a much better point to cope effectively with the challenges.
What we came to understand was that a Union founded on the principles of openness and tolerance, cannot survive on these values alone.
Tolerance cannot come at the expense of our security.
The inverse is also true. Security will never come at the expense of our values.
The first thing we focussed on therefore, was how to better defend our external border.
In record time, also with your critical contribution, we put in place the European Border and Coast Guard.
This was one of the central pillars of our comprehensive European Agenda on Migration and it became a symbol of Union that delivers.
The Agency is rapidly becoming fully operational now. It is ready to step-in immediately to support our Member States in managing their external border.
There is still work to be done by our Member States, and we are pushing continuously to ensure the full operational capability of the rapid reaction pools.
The European Border and Coast Guard will also be helpful in the area of return. Returning third-country nationals who do not have the right to stay is a critical element of managing migration.
The frontline Member States continue to need our assistance. There are ongoing important operations in Bulgaria, Italy and Greece.
In parallel, cooperation with our neighbours is key at political but also at operational level.
And here once again, I would like to repeat that besides what was said and written by newspapers recently, the EU-Turkey Statement works. And we have to do our best to keep it alive, as it has produced very tangible results.
The Member States have done a good job. We are not where we were 2 years ago. The hotspots work. Nearly 100% are registered, identified, and fingerprinted. This was not the case 2 years ago.
And this cooperation between border guards is brining results, that we should commend.
And as we saw in recent terrorist attacks in Berlin and elsewhere, potentially also an important piece of the security puzzle.
This is where the interaction between our policy on migration and security starts – at our external border.
This is first and foremost about information. We need to know who crosses our external border. We need to know who they are.
And we need to check them against all our security databases, to make sure law enforcement authorities can operationally follow up on suspects.
That is why we introduced systematic checks of all persons crossing the EU external borders against security databases. Because we had the Brussels and Paris attacks, with EU citizens that went to Syria and managed to return to Europe undetected, abusing our openness, to commit their heinous crimes against the societies that raised them.
Since last Friday, this crucial security layer is a reality at all our external border crossing points.
You might know that we experienced some difficulties but a meeting is being organised tomorrow with Member States experts to help them implement the legislation and
ensure regular traffic flow without compromising the level of security. The security of travel documents is also crucial here, for establishing the identity of a person.
In December 2016, we adopted an Action Plan on document security to make residence cards, identity documents and Emergency Travel Documents more secure.
Beyond the threat coming from home-grown terrorists, there are of course information gaps also about third-country nationals.
That is why we proposed an EU Entry-Exit System, to record the border crossings of non-EU citizens and to reinforce border check procedures for non-EU nationals travelling to the EU.
The Entry-Exit System is a key proposal to improve security in the Schengen area, and I call on you to help the inter-institutional discussions to move forward towards adoption.
The other piece of the puzzle is ETIAS. This is the system we proposed to get advance information related to security and migration risks on visa free third-country nationals before they arrive at our external border.
Its swift adoption is therefore essential to ensure the security of our citizens and the proper management of our borders.
I hope it can be operational by 2020, and you are in the driver’s seat to make ETIAS, – along with Entry-Exit – a reality in Europe.
Now, in recent months, with the security and migration crises happening simultaneously, our Schengen area has come under a lot of strain.
It has been even called into question by some, that ask if it will survive the crises.
I remind you that Schengen is one of the greatest and most tangible achievements of the European Integration.
No-one in the EU and no citizen in European Union would ever imagine a Europe without free movement being ensured.
For us, the generation that has lived Europe, with borders, it’s a very bad memory I can tell you. So we have to do our best, in order to uphold it and defend this achievement.
Some Member States have temporarily reintroduced internal border controls to meet the influx of irregular migration and the increased terrorist threat.
These decisions are in line with the Schengen Border Code.
That much is clear. But, we are of course not happy that we are in this situation, and we want to return Back to Schengen as soon as possible.
Our Member States are in the best position to assess the threats; there is a clear need to ensure the right, proportionate response.
Other measures, such as intensified police checks, can certainly help to achieve the same results, and keep our continent open.
As we know it, and as our citizens want it to be.
Dear friends,
our external borders have come under extreme pressures in the past two years. Pressures, which have come to call the very existence of our Union into question.
But here too, there is strength to be found – in unity;- In trusting each other, – and working together.
In remaining faithful to the values of our Union, while doing our best that our external border keeps Europe safe, without making it a fortress.
By strengthening our external borders we also strengthen our management of migration.
Stepping up the information our external borders produce, and sharing that information between us will allow us to fight terrorism more effectively.
We will soon come forward with new initiatives also in this area, which will bring together our actions on external borders, with our actions in the area on migration and security.
Because the objective remains the same: a tolerant, open and welcoming Union, which ensures the security of its citizens, while remaining faithful to its moral, legal and political values.
As I said in the beginning, we are not where we were 2 years ago. We have made progress on all these issues. But more has to be done in the future.
Once again, I would like to make a strong call to all Member States and governments, to support and help us with that, but on the other hand to fulfil their commitments and their pledges. Because there are still some shortcomings there.
Thank you for your attention, I wish you best of luck for the conference. I look forward to reading the outcomes.
Thank you.