It took almost two months since when the Italian island Lampedusa become a place of mass pilgrimage of illegal immigrants. Refugees who have fled their homes in Tunisia and other African countries arrived there to find refuge in the EU countries. Italian authorities began to give the permits for illegal migrants from North Africa to travel within the Schengen area, provoking the conflict and debate in the EU member-states.
The
European Commission issued a Communication on Migration (May 6), which is a
reaction to events in North Africa and the related situation with migrants in
It contains proposals to respond the new challenges.
Here are the
abstracts of key provisions of this document
Full text of
document in English is available here.
These recent events
of historic proportion in the
have confirmed the need for a strong and common EU policy in the field of
migration and asylum. Making substantial progress on legislation, operational
cooperation and in our relations with third countries is more necessary than
ever. The purpose of this Communication is to set recent and future policy
proposals in a framework that takes account of all relevant aspects and allows the
EU and its
migration and mobility of third-country nationals in a secure environment.
Some Member States,
such as
and
are more directly exposed to massive arrivals of irregular migrants and, to a
limited extent, of persons in need of international protection. This is not a
national problem alone, but needs also to be addressed at the EU level and
requires true solidarity amongst Member States.
Whilst the EU must
maintain and consolidate its tradition of granting asylum and protection it should
also foresee the appropriate tools in order to prevent large number of economic
migrants crossing the borders irregularly. To reach these objectives effective
management of the EU’s borders is a condition of credibility inside and outside
the
Dialogue and
cooperation with countries of origin and of transit of these migrants is
essential. Such collaboration
needs to be built on security and good governance for the establishment of mutually
beneficial policies in the field of legal migration. It also implies enhanced
economic cooperation in order to develop the conditions for growth and
employment in the countries of origin, to address the causes of irregular
migration. Such cooperation should also build on the principle of
conditionality applied to migration issues in order to encourage effective commitment
by our partners in preventing irregular migration flows, in managing their borders
efficiently and in cooperating on the return and readmission of irregular
migrants.
This document
contains such key elements as: crossing
the borders (border controls and preventing irregular immigration), moving and living in an area without
internal borders (a consistent policy on mobility including visas, a
properly managed legal migration), providing
international protection to persons in need, migration in External relations
beyond the crisis, the EU and the Southern Mediterranean in partnership and annex.
Effective and
credible external borders are essential. The EU must be capable of managing the
flows of persons who wish to travel for a short period or to migrate legally to
the EU while preventing from entry those who are not entitled to enter. Border
control also makes a major contribution in the fight against crime, as
explained in the Internal Security Strategy presented by the Commission in 20104. The
to maintain high levels of security whilst also making border crossings simpler
for those who should be admitted, in full respect of
their fundamental rights.
The control of the
EU’s external border must be continuously improved to respond to new migration
and security challenges. Recent events have shown how quickly a section of the external
border considered as low risk can quickly become subject to critical migratory pressure.
Organised crime is responsible for trafficking human beings or facilitating
irregular migration and it constantly adapts its methods and routes. At the
same time the overall trend is for travel flows to increase and for people to
expect fast and easy border crossings.
The creation of the
Schengen area is one of the most tangible, popular and successful achievements
of the EU. To safeguard this achievement and pave the way for its continuous development,
further steps must be envisaged to strengthen external borders, as outlined above.
In addition, a clear system for Schengen governance is needed. Currently
the
system of peer reviews to ensure the application of the common rules. The
current revision of the Schengen evaluation mechanism should be based on a
Community approach with participation of experts from Member States, FRONTEX
and lead by the Commission. The proposed mechanism would ensure more
transparency and improve the follow-up of shortcomings identified during the experts’
evaluations.
A mechanism must
also be put in place to allow the Union to handle situations where either a
is not fulfilling its obligations to control its section of the external
border, or where a particular portion of the external border comes under unexpected
and heavy pressure due to external events.
Irregular
immigration is a phenomenon which is difficult to quantify. However, certain indicators
may provide guidance. In 2009, the number of irregularly staying third country
nationals apprehended in the EU was about 570 000 (7% less than in 2008). Member
States returned about 250 000 persons (4.5% more than in 2008)
Dealing firmly and
effectively with irregular migration is a precondition for a credible migration
and mobility policy. A low probability of return for irregular migrants who are
not in need of international protection is a pull factor and undermines public
trust in national and European authorities. A more coordinated use at European
level of relevant tools and policies must be achieved.
To better coordinate
the checks at the external borders the Commission will present proposals in
2012, suggesting best practices to Member States.
Attention should be
paid also to reinforcing border checks while at the same time speeding up border
crossings for regular travellers. Some Member States are already developing
national systems for entry-exit systems. A European entry-exit system would ensure that data on the crossing of the border by third country
nationals would be available for border control and immigration authorities,
completing the
would help to control better the stay of visa holders and avoid over-stay,
which is, contrary to common perception, the main source of irregular
immigration in the EU. Simultaneously, a registered traveller
programme would allow third
country nationals to use automated border control making access to the EU
easier for frequent travellers.
The accessibility
of consular services is also of the utmost importance. The Commission will present
later this year a Communication on regional consular cooperation programmes. In
particular, it will examine how the setting up of common visa application centres could be facilitated. In the longer term, cooperation
between Member States on short stay Schengen visas could be extended to long
stay visas.
As emphasised in
the Europe 2020 Strategy, a rational migration policy should recognise that migrants
can bring economic dynamism and new ideas and help create new jobs. Migrants also
help fill gaps in the labour market that EU workers cannot, or do not wish to
fill, and contribute to addressing the demographic challenges that the EU
faces. Long term demographic trends show that reliance on a workforce coming
from labour flows between EU Member States may become limited over the next
decade. Receiving migrants with the skills that correspond to EU needs can be a
response to labour and
skills shortages in certain sectors.
The EU needs to
strengthen its external migration policies. There is a need for partnerships with
third countries that address the issues related to migration and mobility in a
way that makes cooperation mutually beneficial. In developing such a policy,
migration issues should be integrated into the overall EU’s external relations
to promote EU’s interest and needs. Special attention should be given to the
relationship between migration and climate change.
Integration of
legally resident third-country nationals remains a key and sometimes controversial
issue. Successful integration is essential for human and cultural reasons. It
is also necessary for maximising the economic and social benefits of immigration,
for individuals as well as societies. There is no single means of ensuring
successful integration. But it is clear that more efforts are needed both at
the EU, the national and local level to achieve better results. Every migrant
should feel at home in Europe, respecting its laws and values, and should be
able to contribute to
Integration
requires efforts by the migrant and the receiving society. Migrants must be
given the opportunity to participate in their new communities, in particular to
learn the language of the receiving country, to have access to employment,
education and health systems, as well as to have the socio-economic capacity to
support themselves. Migrants should become acquainted with the fundamental
values of the EU and its
the culture and traditions of the country they live in. Migrants’ integration
implies a balance between enjoying the rights and respecting the laws and
cultures of the host countries.
In this context,
the Commission will shortly present a Communication on a European Agenda for the Integration of third-country nationals, focusing on migrants’
participation in receiving countries, action at the local level and the
involvement of countries of origin in the integration process. This Agenda will
be a contribution to the debate on how to understand and support
integration.
The European
Council meetings on 11 and 25 March reaffirmed the commitment to develop a new
partnership with the countries of the Southern Neighbourhood. The European
Parliament also underlined in its recent Resolution19, the need to have
a balanced and comprehensive approach to these issues. Building on these
contributions, in the coming weeks, the Commission will present a revised
European Neighbourhood Policy and a package of proposals concerning the EU
approach in the area of migration, mobility and security with the
In this framework,
work shall be carried out with the
countries to improve the recognition of migrants’ skills and educational
levels.
As a first step,
the EU has proposed to the
countries to establish a structured dialogue on migration, mobility and
security in view of establishing related Mobility Partnerships on the basis of
the specific merit of each and every country.
The dialogue should
have the aim of establishing Mobility Partnerships with appropriate conditionality,
and of helping the partner countries to reinforce capacity building in the
areas of management of migrations flows. Mobility partnerships should cover,
among others, ways to facilitate and better organise legal migration, effective
and humane measures to fight irregular migration, and concrete steps towards
reinforcing the development outcomes of migration. Their implementation will be
conditional upon a genuine commitment from the third-countries concerned to
readmit irregular migrants who are not entitled to stay in the territory of the
Member States and take effective action aimed at preventing irregular migration,
establishing integrated border management, document security and to fight organized
crime, including trafficking in human beings and smuggling of migrants.
Partner countries that are
ready to work with the EU on asylum, migration and border management, as well
as on more effective enforcement of the rule of law, will be supported in strengthening
their capacities to that end. This cooperation will also help to set the
conditions for stability, respect for human rights, democracy and good
governance. It will likewise enable the EU to offer further initiatives to
facilitate mobility for third country nationals, in parallel with measures in
the area of visa policy, as part of a more general overhaul of the EU’s
relationships with these countries.
