Brussels, 08/03/2012 (Agence Europe) - Member states' home affairs ministers or their representatives agreed in Brussels on 8 March to beef up governance of the Schengen free movement area, adopting conclusions that define the form that political “guidance” of the area will take. This decision will, first and foremost, have a practical effect as, in future, it will be the Mixed Committee, which brings together the EU countries and the Schengen associated states, such as Switzerland, Iceland and Norway, which will provide this governance and will discuss problems noted in the area, ranging from failure to properly apply the rules, to challenges related to migratory pressure and the issue of visa liberalisation and facilitation schemes, the effects of which ministers will assess. The Mixed Committee with its extended powers will serve above all to detect problems before they happen, a Council source said, though it will not necessarily take radical decisions, such as re-introducing internal border controls.
This restoration of internal border controls is contained within the legislative proposals brought forward by the Commission in September of last year, at the request of the Council, and could come into force by June, after Council and European Parliament debate. Discussions in the Mixed Committee should, however, prevent this last-resort measure having to be used, said the source. The committee will meet at least once every six months and, in June 2012, will begin by assessing an initial report/health check which will be adopted by the Commission in May.
In giving the Mixed Committee greater powers, member states are seeking to provide protection against the failures of some of their partners - Greece, for example, which is the main gateway for illegal immigration into the EU, across its border with Turkey and which once again came in for criticism on Thursday. Ministers discussed the Commission report setting out progress made by Greece, for instance, on the situation of asylum seekers, but highlighting, too, a number of black spots, such as the catastrophic humanitarian situation on the region of Evros and the lack of administrative staff who are needed to bring the country up to standard. On Thursday morning, Austrian Home Affairs Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner, speaking at a press conference with her German counterpart Hans-Peter Friedrich, was scathing that the Greek-Turkish border was little more than an open door, “a barn door” at that, the Austrian media report. She said Greece needs at least 300 more experts to come up to standard.
Greece's partners are becoming annoyed at its slowness and its difficulties in using up the funding allocated by the EU to help it. They are also maddened by Turkey's refusal to sign a readmission agreement for its migrants with the EU. Turkey wants guarantees and a promise that a dialogue on visa liberalisation will be opened before committing to any readmission agreement. This issue was due for discussion among ministers on Thursday. The Council is divided, with some prepared to give Turkey a verbal promise that the dialogue will take place and others categorically refusing to bend to this bit of Turkish “blackmail”, as a European source called it. According to another source, Austria and Germany are particularly against to giving this verbal promise. (SP/transl.rt)