Brussels, 07/01/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 7 January, the Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, announced to a visit of the college of commissioners in Amsterdam, that migration and EU external policy would, unsurprisingly, be at the top of the Dutch Presidency of the Council of the EU's agenda.
Rutte asserted that the EU was currently having to confront “very complex problems” such as “the enormous influx of refugees”, with more than 1 million people arriving in the Union last year. The fight against extremism and terrorism are also cited as priority dossiers. The Dutch Prime Minister announced during a joint press conference with the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, and the institution's vice president, Frans Timmermans, that “there is no time to lose. Europe is facing a number of serious problems”. He added that “the situation at our borders is complicated and fragile”.
He indicated that member states had already began to set out the building blocks for developing action over recent months and called for more to be done in the area of EU external border protection, as well is in terms of capacity for taking refugees in EU third countries. The Dutch Prime Minister added that this action should help towards reducing migratory flows and providing a humanitarian solution to people fleeing violence.
In the area of migration, the success of this Presidency will be judged on three different points, explained Rutte. This will involve considerably reducing migratory flows to the EU, the fair distribution of asylum seekers between member states and, in this connection, implementing a refugee relocation mechanism and, finally, member states providing sufficient reception capacity on their respective territory. With regard to relations with Turkey, he pointed out that it was of “crucial” importance to reduce migratory flows (see other article).
The Dutch Presidency has planned a total of six ministerial meetings on Justice and Home Affairs, including an informal meeting at the end of January. This meeting will be used to finalise proposals on the future European coast guard and border guard agencies by next July.
“The Netherlands Presidency will endeavour to take forward and help implement the European Agenda on Migration presented in May 2015 and the Commission's additional proposals as announced in its Work Programme for 2016” indicated the Presidency in its work programme just published. The Netherlands Presidency “is looking to take steps resulting in a fair distribution of the first asylum seekers to arrive and the processing of applications for asylum, and the further improvement of the security of Europe's external borders. In addition, in the medium term, migrants' prospects in the regions in which they are initially received must be improved, in order to break the existing model of high-risk onward travel”.
The document also highlights the fact that “The Netherlands Presidency will aim to address the various challenges arising in this area by means of an integrated European approach. This will include the successful implementation of the recent decisions on the relocation of 160,000 asylum seekers, the effective functioning of hotspots, and steps to foster operational cooperation between member states. The legislative proposals on a relocation mechanism and a European list of safe countries of origin will also feature prominently during the Presidency”.
In the context of the fight against terrorism and “In the light of the current complex security situation and in the context of counterterrorism, the implementation of the EU Internal Security Strategy 2015-2020 is also of key importance, as is the implementation of the package of measures adopted after the attacks in Paris in January”.
Working on the basis of existing instruments, the Presidency will focus specifically on fostering, “effective operational cooperation and further improvements to the exchange of information, while maintaining data protection safeguards”. It will also address the proposal to amend the framework decision on terrorism, improved rules on firearms and a proposal for a European Criminal Records Information System (ECRIS) for third-country nationals.
The Presidency is eager to pursue work on other legislative dossiers, such as contract law, legal aid and the EU's accession to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)