Brussels, 07/012/2015 (Agence Europe) - In an opinion adopted on Thursday 3 December during the 115th plenary session of the Committee of the Regions (CoR), members gave their support to the European migration agenda and the draft revising the Dublin II (343/2003) Regulation, which sets out the system for seeking asylum in Europe. They also demonstrated their determination to strengthen border control and approved the proposal to introduce a permanent refugee relocation mechanism.
The report drawn up by François Decoster (ALDE, France) effectively considers the migration agenda, “as an important step towards the introduction of a comprehensive approach towards meeting migration challenges” and in this connection, the author of the report highlights the absolute need to strengthen solidarity, “a crucial principle”, in support of migrants but also in support of the local and regional authorities.
Members are therefore calling for financial and material support, particularly in the context of managing refugee camps in the long and short term and also welcomed the development of “hotspots” in an effort to support the most affected regions. The members are also demanding that they be more involved in the elaboration and implementation of European migratory policies, particularly when it involves harmonising reception measures, which is a recurrent request made by the regions (see EUROPE 11426).
On 15 May, the European Commission presented a European migration agenda (see EUROPE 11314), followed by an implementation plan on 27 May. This followed a number of very heated European summits in June (see EUROPE 11342). The European Commissioner for Regional Policy, Corina Cretu, also subsequently indicated that she wanted to facilitate the reprogramming of regional funds in an effort to respond to the migration crisis. This modification has not been resorted to by member states very much so far, except by Italy (see EUROPE 11426). (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)