Luxembourg, 13/10/2015 (Agence Europe) - Meeting in Council on Monday 12 October, the foreign affairs ministers of the EU member states said that the current world crises confirm the EU's “need” for a “comprehensive and balanced” external policy on migration and asylum.
In their conclusions, the ministers ask High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini to “continue to reinforce the external dimension of the EU migration policy, including through engaging with other partners of the international community and stepping up cooperation with third countries of origin and transit”.
The Council confirms its commitment to mobilise all appropriate instruments and policies, and support efforts to address the root causes of migratory flows, in particular conflicts, political instability, human rights violations, poor socio-economic development and climate change. The Council reaffirms the importance of close cooperation with first countries of asylum, countries of origin and transit “to jointly address this common challenge” of migration.
The ministers thus encourage the ongoing high level dialogues on migration with key countries along the main migratory routes to Europe, as these dialogues should help enhance cooperation on readmission. “All tools shall be mobilised to increase cooperation on return and readmission”, the ministers state. The Council also reiterates its call on the Commission, together with the European External Action Service (EEAS), to propose, within six months, comprehensive and tailor-made packages to reinforce overall cooperation with third-countries in order to implement effectively readmission and returns. The ministers reiterate the importance of engaging in a comprehensive dialogue with African countries of origin and transit “in order to jointly manage migration and asylum flows in the spirit of partnership, ownership and shared responsibility”. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)