On Wednesday 18 April, the European Parliament in Strasbourg took a stance in favour of EU support for the future United Nations global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration, negotiated at the UN. The compact must be adopted in Marrakesh during a world conference in December.
The resolution on the state of progress of these talks, adopted by a large majority (516 to 37 with 47 abstentions), supports the work of the UN and takes up the objectives of this future, non-binding compact which will aim to deal with all aspects of migration by guaranteeing respect of human rights, promoting legal migration and combating irregular migration, people smuggling and human trafficking (see EUROPE 11986).
Parliament underlines that migration is a global phenomenon requiring global solutions and that the future compact and that on refugees, currently being negotiated, will provide an international cooperation framework for management of migratory flows in full respect of human dignity.
The S&D Group hailed Parliament's signal of support addressed to the UN, while deploring the fact that Hungary attempts to block adoption of a unified position at the Council of the EU.
The vice-president of the group, Tanja Fajon of Slovenia, said: “We have to get it out of our minds that increased migration is a temporary phenomenon or simply a European issue. Demographic changes, poverty, climate change, and global instability will cause larger migratory flows”. She went on to add: “We must show citizens that we can manage migration in a sustainable way by continuing to carry out our moral and legal obligations to help those who flee the war and persecution”.
The EPP Group expressed the regret that the text is drafted in over-general terms. Hungarian members and others from the ECR group, for their part, spoke of the “growing concern of a majority of the population in the Visegrad countries, which do not want immigration”, and the concern felt elsewhere in Europe given the growing flows of economic migrants.
The draft pact being negotiated is based on solidarity, responsibility sharing, multilateralism and engagement which are at the basis of the European approach, said Dimitris Avramopoulos, European Commissioner for Migration.
“The compact must allow solidarity between the EU and third countries to be strengthened for responsible management of migratory flows. It will allow a common understanding of the challenges of migration facing each country in the world and provide a common tool box with which to respond to this. The two global compacts, taken together, will provide international cooperation frameworks that will steer our work for decades to come”, he said during the debate prior to the vote.
Convinced that it is in Europe’s interest to subscribe to this, Avramopoulos said that, with the US’ withdrawal from the talks last year, “we need a strong and united Europe, speaking with a single voice”. Hence his regret that “one of the member states has adopted a position different to that held by the other 27”. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)