Brussels, 14/01/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday morning 14 January, the European Commissioner for Migration and Home Affairs, Dimitris Avramopoulos, told MEPs from the EP Civil Liberties Committee (LIBE), that the migratory situation was “getting worse” and had not experienced any “let up” given the fact, for example, that during the end-of-year festivities period, 3 to 4,000 people a day had been arriving in Greece.
The Commissioner again estimated that relocation procedures for distributing 160,000 asylum seekers over a two-year period in EU countries from Greece and Italy “is not working”. Avramopoulos therefore urged member states to respect their commitments and the fact that the hotspots responsible for registering migrants also had to be “immediately operational”. The Commissioner said that only the centre in Lesbos was up and running in Greece and only two others in Italy, even though, in the latter case, the Italian authorities have provided assurances that the new centres would become operational over the next few days.
The Commissioner said “six months have been lost” with regard to the question of the hotspots. He added that a lot of time was being lost and is concerned that pressure would intensify given the destabilisation in the EU's external neighbourhood.
Addressing MEPs, the Commissioner returned to the question of action launched in 2015 and the coming work programme in which there will be a revision of the Dublin system planned for March and the “intelligent borders” package, a structured resettlement mechanism, in addition to initiatives on legal migration and the fight against traffickers. Avramopoulos also returned to the question of the action plan with Turkey, an action plan that has not yet obtained the results that had been hoped for but which the Commissioner said should help them to “stem the flows” more quickly.
The Commissioner also mentioned the proposal to create a new European coast and border guard agency, which would have its mandate strengthened, particularly in the area of migrant returns. Avramopoulos highlighted the fact that only people who could claim protection would be able to remain in the EU and those who could not, should be sent back as soon as possible. He warned against the dismantlement of Schengen and advocated stronger external border controls, in an effort to safeguard the area of free movement.
MEPs discussed several subjects, such as the situation in Sweden. The Commission is expected to give its opinion on the possibility of the country benefiting from the relocation system, before the February European Council, explained the Commissioner.
Timothy Kirkhope (ECR, United Kingdom) said that they had to try to ensure over the next few months that member states were able to follow the line given and that they did not enter into a model of confrontation. The French MEP from ALDE group, Nathalie Griesbeck, criticised the lack of initiative displayed in the response of the institutions and said that they were happy enough to simply respond. She asked about the way in which the future European agency based on Frontex would function and criticised the €300 million budget, which she said was the same for the European fruit and vegetables programme in schools. The MEP asked whether this would be sufficient for “15,000 km” of external borders.
Some MEPs criticised the cooperation with Turkey, such as Gérard Deprez (ALDE, Belgium), who said that the Commission had given the EP a poisoned chalice, with the list of safe countries provided and which would provide Turkey with the possibility of obtaining a “label”. Ska Keller (Greens/EFA, Germany) also criticised this cooperation with Turkey, which she accused of sending back migrants. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)