Brussels, 02/03/2011 (Agence Europe) - Nine days ahead of the summit convened by the president of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, to define the EU's strategy towards Libya, the president of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, on Wednesday 2 March reiterated the tools which have been made available to the member states to help them to deal with a possible influx of African migrants on the coasts of Europe and also proposed the long-term creation of visa facilitation regimes for these countries, to help to build “open societies”.
Facilitation for certain categories of people - students, researchers, businesspeople - would, Barroso argued, eventually give these countries new prospects, once their political transition is complete. So far, no agreement of this kind exists with Libya, Tunisia or Egypt.
For the rest, Barroso pointed out that the EU had already started to help Italy via the Frontex agency's Hermes mission and that the Commission was prepared to make extraordinary funds available, if the member states suddenly found themselves facing the arrival of large waves of migrants. He was referring to the emergency envelope of €25 million for all member states. In mid-February, Italy had to cope with the arrival of thousands of Tunisians at Lampedusa in the space of a few days and, on Wednesday 2 March, announced the arrival of 350 Tunisian migrants at the same place.
There is no evidence to conclude that the situation on the migration front is going over the edge, said the source, as the situation on the doorstep of the EU remains “mainly calm”. On Wednesday morning, however, the French foreign minister, Laurent Wauquiez, once again voiced the concern of certain member states over the situation in Libya. Wauquiez explained that the influx of migrants from Libya is “a real risk for Europe and should not be underestimated”, AFP reports.
These fears will be discussed at the European Council of 11 March. At this stage, the mood of the debates is expected to be similar to that of the discussions of the home affairs ministers of the EU, which was held in Brussels 24 February. At that meeting, Italy, supported by Malta and Greece, called for a special solidarity fund of the EU to face any potential flows of migrants into the EU and also called for the “burden” in terms of asylum and illegal immigration to be shared. Most of the states, however, felt that these calls were somewhat premature, given the absence, so far, of any notable influx to the EU.
As regards sharing the “burden”, the position of these countries is therefore unlikely to change by 11 March, one source told us. But if the situation should change by then, there is another tool which can be used, in the form of the 2001 directive on temporary protection in the event of massive influxes of refugees into the EU. This has never been activated. It is designed to grant protection for at least one year (and can be extended by six months) on European soil to people under threat in their own country.
In order to activate this tool, the Commission would have to decree an “extraordinary situation” and then make a proposal to the member states to activate the directive. It could also propose that they divide up the hosting of these people amongst themselves. But here again, the Commission has so far been unable to state as and when - and as of what number of migrants - the situation would become extraordinary. And according to one source, the Commission would also have to be certain in advance of the support of the member states before it put forward any proposal to share the burden. As regards this directive, the states have the final say and are by no means obliged to accept any refugees. (S.P./transl.fl)