The Committee of the Regions (CoR) adopted two, somewhat critical, reports on European migration policy on Wednesday 8 February, one on migration partnerships with third countries, authored by Peter Bossman (PES, Slovenia) and the other on reform of the common European asylum system by Vincenzo Bianco (PES, Italy).
With the adoption of Bossman’s opinion, the members of the CoR acknowledge the usefulness and back the establishment of the “hotspots” outside the EU and the partnerships with third countries launched in June 2016 (see EUROPE 11567). A number of changes could be made, however, to make these partnerships more effective, they say.
They call for the introduction of co-financing requirements in the external investment plan, with closer involvement of local and regional government, and for better dissemination of information on European schemes in place at local authority level. They also call for cities to be able to have direct access to European funds for city-to-city and region-to-region cooperation – a recurring request from local and regional authorities (see EUROPE 11588). Efforts must be focused, they say, on Libya, Jordan, Lebanon, Tunisia and Niger.
In adopting Bianco’s opinion, the CoR calls for: - improvement in legal assistance for migrants, particularly for minors; - adjustment of the appeals process; - clarification of the definition of “first country of asylum”; - allowing the resettlement of migrants who arrived illegally in Europe more than five years previously; - increased funding for reception centres and local and regional authorities. Bianco, who is the mayor Catania, Sicily, a town particularly exposed to migration flows, already submitted an opinion on the very subject last year (see EUROPE 11632).
Controversy around the Bianco text. According to a European source, Bianco’s text provoked lively debate among members and struck a chord among members from Germany, which, for several months, has seen fierce debate between supporters and opponents of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s migration policy. The Conference of the home affairs ministers of the German Länder is believed to have called on its CdR members to vote against this latest report. The call was, however, ignored by many of the German members, we have been told.
Members of the CoR will meet with Middle Eastern and North African counterparts on 22 and 23 February to discuss migration and Libya. In July, the CoR and the Commission will host a meeting of local and regional authorities of developing countries to discuss this issue. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)