During a plenary session debate attended by Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat on Wednesday 18 January, MEPs welcomed the will of the Maltese Presidency to work on migration, though they did not always share its objectives.
The Maltese Presidency wants to make progress on reforming the Dublin regulation on asylum and also to reach agreement with Libya on migrants and create humanitarian corridors so that people eligible for asylum can travel to Europe in safety.
“We unanimously condemned all the deaths in the Mediterranean. That must not continue”, stated Manfred Weber (Germany) for the EPP. “We have to get back to what was agreed at the Valletta summit” (in November 2015), he stressed, highlighting that, of the €1.8 billion that the trust fund for Africa should contain, only €80 million had been paid by the member states “which do not always live up to their fine words”.
The joint leader of the Greens, Philippe Lamberts (Belgium), criticised the Presidency. While, he argued, it is important to implement the agreement relocating 160,000 people, he summed up the Maltese priority as being “contain and return”. Lamberts was also critical of a possible agreement with Libya on migrants, underlining the complex situation on the ground. Similar comments came from the GUE/NGL group. “We need to get rid of (the) Dublin (regulation) and put in place a migration policy based on solidarity”, said Neoklis Sylikiotis (Cyprus). “We reject fortress Europe, the EU-Turkey agreement is unacceptable, we need to devise a system of sharing that is fair for refugees, otherwise they will continue to drown in the Mediterranean”, he added.
Making a more social Europe. Just like Muscat in his introductory speech, MEPs also highlighted the social dimension of the EU. Weber argued: “There is a need for fairness and justice on our continent”. Maria Joao Rodriguez (Portugal), speaking for the S&D, said that the EU roadmap that will be discussed by heads of state and/or government in Rome on 25 March must prioritise the social dimension. What is needed is a roadmap “where social Europe (lies) at the heart of the contract to be entered into with citizens, with social rights where the growth and employment strategy is underpinned by a solid plan with a goal of sustainable development”, she stressed.
Guy Verhofstadt urged EU reform. “The EU needs to be reformed as quickly as possible. There is a need for unity, to stick together, to reform the EU, to have a more closely integrated EU. And it’s now that that is needed. This huge responsibility is on you. It’s you who are going to speak to the other leaders”, he told the Maltese prime minister, emphasising that reform was “essential”.
Speaking on behalf of the ECR, Syed Kamall (UK) returned to the negotiations on the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the EU. “I hope that the Presidency will see Brexit as more than something legal linked to Article 50, such as the creation of a mutually beneficial relationship between the EU and the United Kingdom, a solid relationship with a prosperous EU trading with a prosperous UK “, he said.
The Greens criticised Malta’s tax policy and the notable absence of tackling tax evasion in the Presidency programme. Sven Giegold (Germany) also invited Muscat to take part in the European Parliament committee of enquiry into the Panama Papers scandal. The Maltese prime minister did not respond to the invitation, choosing to make clear that his country was “not a tax haven”. A number of people close to Muscat have been named in the Panama Papers affair. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)