President, members of the European Parliament,
Before debriefing on the European Council of the 15th October and the next steps ahead, I would like to say the following:
The
crisis, or rather challenge, that we, all of us, as a community, as the
European Union, are facing now is perhaps the biggest challenge we have
seen for decades. I have no doubt that this challenge has the potential
to change the European Union we have built. It has the potential even
to destroy achievements such as border-free travel between Schengen
countries. And what is even more dangerous, it has the potential to
create tectonic changes in the European political landscape. And these
are not changes for the better. These are truly extraordinary times that
require extraordinary measures, extraordinary sacrifices, and
extraordinary solidarity. To me, as President of the European Council,
and I believe to most of us, it is paramount to ensure the unity of our
Member States and our European institutions. Together, we will handle
this crisis. Otherwise, I do not want to think of the alternative.
From
the very outset of this crisis, I have underlined the importance of
protecting our external borders. We do not yet have an agreement on how
to do it in operational terms but at least leaders share the view that
our priority must be to protect the EU's external borders.
Unfortunately, the situation will get even worse as I warned this
chamber in my last intervention. I mean, for example, the new wave of
refugees from Aleppo and the regions of Russian bombing attacks in
Syria, which has created more than 100,000 new refugees.
Dear members,
During
the last European Council, leaders gave a cautious welcome to the work
of the European Commission on a deal with Turkey on migration. Here, let
me personally thank Vice-President Timmermans who is working hard on
the technical details. Let me stress again that a deal with Turkey only
makes sense if it helps stem the migratory flows to Europe. This
cooperation will not be easy. We should have no illusion than any third
country, including Turkey, can replace us in protecting our borders.
Second,
leaders took stock of work to make eleven 'hotspots' in Greece and
Italy fully operational by the end of November. This deadline is
ambitious and requires a significant acceleration of manpower and assets
to Frontex, and the European Asylum Support Office (EASO). For now, the
European agencies have less than half of what they need. When it
comes to the role of hotspots, we have started an honest debate on how
they should function. This is still a work in progress.
Third,
we discussed at length how to protect our borders. We must end at once
this completely unnecessary argument between the proponents of
protecting external borders and the advocates of solidarity and
openness. We need both. We need to restore effective external border
control to start managing the situation on our borders. This has to
include stopping the illegal crossings of our borders, registration of
all asylum-seekers, and organisation of appropriate reception
facilities. This will not in itself stop the flow. But it will reduce it
significantly. In this regard, the European Council agreed that Frontex
will be developed beyond its current mandate. It will be able to
intervene in border crises faster and more assertively. And it will take
a lead in the return of irregular migrants. We need the European
Parliament's help to do this as quickly as possible. The aim is to equip
Frontex with the tools it needs to fully protect European borders. I
would like to commend the impressive work already done by the members on
financing for both Frontex and EASO.
And
in parallel, we will need to work on how to develop further our
internal solidarity between Member States. A very first step is to
provide Frontex and EASO with all the resources they need as well as
implementing the temporary relocation mechanism to alleviate the burden
from those of our Member States most affected.
Dear members,
This
crisis does not just concern Syrian refugees. Two weeks from now, I
will convene a summit of European and African leaders in Valletta. With
the help of our African counterparts, it is our goal that this summit
will help to forge a real Euro-African partnership on the migration
issue.
The
European Council decided that we want to achieve concrete operational
measures, in a fair and balanced manner, on effective return and
readmission, dismantling of criminal networks and prevention of illegal
migration, accompanied by real efforts to tackle root causes and to
support the African socio-economic -development together with a
commitment concerning continued possibilities for legal migration.
We
will aim at exploring possibilities for developing safe and sustainable
reception capacities in the affected regions and providing lasting
prospects and adequate procedures for refugees and their families,
including through access to education and jobs, until return to their
country of origin is possible.
Finally,
we will ask Member States to further contribute to the efforts made to
support UNHCR, the World Food Programme and other agencies, as well as
to support the EU's Regional Trust Fund responding to the Syria crisis
and the EU Trust Fund for Africa.
Dear President, dear members,
And
finally on Britain: I briefed leaders on the preparatory discussions
between my officials and the UK over the last months. We welcomed Prime
Minister Cameron's commitment to set out the UK's specific concerns in
writing by early November.
Thank you.
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