Dear Members of the European Social and Economic Committee, Europe is facing an unprecedented migratory crisis which is becoming more and more acute.
Its cohesion, solidarity, core values and principles are under pressure, if not at stake.
But the migratory crisis is not the first, nor the last crisis Europe will be confronted with.
I have seen it yesterday on the ground when I visited Idomeni.
More than 12,000 people are stranded there.
A third of them are children, living in dire health and anitary conditions.
These are the images of Europe’s shame, and they have travelled all around the world.
But these people are determined, they are looking for a safe haven after having lost everything.
And they don’t trust the system, which is precisely what the mugglers abuse.
To deal with this situation, we need to stick to our common values of pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, and solidarity.
In this context, I thank you for the invitation and I welcome your interest and support to a European migration policy.
I would also like to thank you for the positive opinions that you have issued on many of our initiatives.
To address the most burning challenges, we are accelerating our work to implement the immediate actions identified
in the European Agenda on Migration.
We have significantly increased the budget for emergency actions to support the contingency response in Greece.
Our agencies are deploying hundreds of experts on the ground
– to support the national authorities,
– to talk to people and
– to explain the relocation process.
Hotspots are almost all operational in Greece and Italy.
They ensure the identification, registration and fingerprinting of all migrants.
So far, the number of migrants relocated is low.
But we already see an increase in relocation applications, now that the wave-through approach across the Western Balkans has stopped.
This is a good start but this not enough.
We need to do more to assist the frontline Member States and especially Greece, where more than 45 000 migrants are blocked.
WE HAVE TO BRING TO AN END THE IRREGULAR FLOWS.
On the one hand, this means massively relocating migrants in clear need of international protection in the coming days and weeks within Europe.
Today, we have presented a report on relocation, where we make a number of recommendations to address the current shortcomings of this process.
We have set a political target for Member States:
6,000 relocations should be completed by 16 April, and at least 20,000 relocations should be completed by 16 May.
On the other hand, we also need to open legal and safe ways for people in need of protection to come to Europe, without reverting to smugglers and risking their lives. I know all the attention that you pay to the fight against human smuggling and to the need for ensuring alternative ways to access protection.
That is why in today’s report, and ahead of the European Council tomorrow, we call on Member States not to forget their commitment to resettle more people from Turkey.
For every door that is closed to irregular migration, a window should be opened to offer a safe pathway.
Beyond the immediate measures, the crisis has exposed significant structural weaknesses and shortcomings in the design and implementation of European asylum and migration policy.
We need to move from a system which encourages uncontrolled and irregular migratory flows.
We need a system that provides orderly and safe pathways to the EU for third country nationals in need of protection, or who can contribute to the EU’s economic development.
Over the past months, significant steps have been taken to tackle irregular migration resolutely and to manage the EU’s external borders more efficiently.
It is essential that the proposed Regulation establishing a European Border and Coast Guard is adopted by June at the very latest, so that it can start functioning during the summer.
Implementation of the Action Plans against migrant smuggling and on return is also progressing.
All relevant Agencies and Member States have scaled up their work in these areas.
Now, we also need to look at our legal migration policies in the longer term, how to reform our common European asylum system structurally how to address the demographic challenges that Europe is facing.
It will pave the way for new legislative proposals on the revision of the Common European Asylum system, as well as for a revision of the Blue card directive in the coming months.
We should not forget, that more than 1 million migrants arrived last year and settled mostly in Germany, Sweden, Austria.
We also have to be realistic: many of those are in need of protection, and will stay.
Government, social partners and civil society have an important role to play
to welcome and integrate them.
The social dimension is an essential element in our migration policies.
Therefore, it is fundamental to closely involve you in this ongoing debate, considering also the important role you play
in the implementation of a European response.
This is not a new challenge for Europe, and we should learn
from past experiences.
Europe is becoming increasingly diverse.
We have to create sustainable
and long-term integration policies across the whole of the EU.
Before the summer, the Commission will adopt an action plan to reinforce the EU support to Members States
in their efforts to integrate migrants and particularly refugees in the European Societies.
In parallel to legislative measures, the dialogue on migration with relevant stakeholders must be stepped up.
End of last month, for example, we launched a European Dialogue on Skills and Migration with representatives of public and private employers and trade unions on the contribution that migration can bring to address the growing skills shortages in the EU.
I want to thank the European Economic and Social Committee for its active participation in this event, which has been a success.
At the beginning of April, the European Migration Forum, co-organized by the Commission and your committee,
will allow us to discuss migration-related issues with civil society organizations and representatives of local and regional authorities.
To conclude, the migration and refugee challenges can only be addressed collectively.
More than ever we need solidarity between the Member States and involvement at all levels of different stakeholders, including civil society and social partners.
I count on your experience and support to work together.