The presidents of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, trust that the leaders of the European Union (EU) will approve the new pact for migration and asylum before the end of the year, defending requirements “strict”.
“First of all, two days ago we had great success with the agreement in the Council for crisis management because it was an important piece of the whole puzzle of the pact on migration and asylum, so now the probability is very high and I am confident that we will be able to achieve the goal,” Ursula von der Leyen told reporters.
Also upon arrival at the informal European Council, held in Granada under the Spanish presidency of the EU Council and marked by debates on migration, without decisions having been made this Friday due to the nature of the meeting, Roberta Metsola said she expected a “migration package that works.”
“We need to deepen the legislative work, so that at the end of the mandate, when we go to the European Parliament elections, we can tell our citizens that we delivered on what we promised on migration. There is still a lot of work to do. “I do, but I have confidence,” said the leader of the European assembly.
One of the topics of the meeting will then be the migration issue, two days after the ambassadors of the Member States to the EU gave the ‘green light’ to the new Pact for Migration and Asylum, in a preliminary agreement on the regulation of the crisis. management, which provides for an instrument of solidarity.
Following the approval, there will now be legislative debates between co-legislators, with approval by the European Council, which is expected to take place at the European Council in December.
In statements to the press, Ursula von der Leyen highlighted the need for the EU to do “very strong operational work.”
“The short-term work is the work on the Lampedusa 10-point plan and the medium-term work. For example, agreements like the ones we signed with Tunisia, and in this case it is important that we also analyze structural improvements, comprehensive collaboration with the countries of transit or origin, investment in these countries and also the establishment of legal channels and humanitarian corridors,” said the president of the community executive.
Furthermore, “we will be as strict as possible with the return of those who do not have the right to asylum because one thing must also be very clear: we have our international obligations and we will fulfill them.” […]but we, as Europeans, will decide who comes to Europe and under what circumstances, not the traffickers,” concluded Ursula von der Leyen.
This Friday, in the Spanish city of Granada, the EU heads of state and government will debate a Europe prepared for the next decade, marked by challenges such as migration and enlargement to countries like Ukraine.
In a draft of the conclusions of this informal European summit, to which the Lusa agency had access, it is read that “migration is a European challenge that requires a European response”, in particular with regard to irregular migration, which ” “must be addressed immediately and decisively.”
European sources told Lusa this Friday that it is not guaranteed that this issue will be part of the Grenada Declaration due to the objection of Hungary and Poland, whose leaders claim not to have been heard in the agreement reached.
Source: TSF
