The European Commissioner for Migration, Dimitris Avramopoulos, once again called on the Member States, on 6 March in Brussels, to continue their efforts to adopt the ‘asylum’ package, the reform of the European asylum system that will leave a "protected Europe" for future generations.
He asked them to show "political will", while migration will be one of the major issues in the European elections. The Commissioner was speaking on the occasion of the publication of a progress report on the Commission's 'Migration' agenda, taking stock of the actions carried out over the last four years.
The times of crisis are "behind us" with arrivals below the 2015 level, he said from the outset, Europeans should not rest on their laurels, as migration pressure remains particularly high in Spain. In this respect, Morocco's efforts to prevent arrivals via the western Mediterranean are to be welcomed, Mr Avramopoulos said, and assistance to this country should be intensified.
For example, the €140 million programme to support border management must continue to be implemented and negotiations with Morocco on readmission and visa facilitation must be resumed, the Commission explained in a statement.
The Commissioner also recalled that despite the decline in arrivals in Italy via Libya, conditions in that country's detention centres remained "unacceptable". Efforts must therefore be supported to evacuate migrants from these Libyan centres to other surrounding countries or to support resettlement operations to the EU.
For Greece, the Commissioner noted that the living conditions of migrants in the country remained problematic, with difficulties in providing adequate accommodation, according to the Commission, but also in processing asylum applications. The Commissioner's concern is mainly about unaccompanied minors.
Finally, as he had done before the European Summit on 13 and 14 December, the Commissioner reiterated his call to Member States to continue discussions on temporary disembarkation arrangements for migrants and the Commission will give them its "full support". (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)