The Institut Thomas More, a French think tank based in Paris that brings together well-known figures from all sides, but often from the right-wing or centre-right, has published a series of proposals on European migration policy in the run-up to the European elections.
This report, “What contribution should Europe make to the new challenges of immigration?” begins with the observation that the sovereignty of the Member States in the field of migration policy must not be affected; as such, the direct right of intervention for Frontex (as Manfred Weber has requested) should be banned. But resources can be concentrated at the EU level where real added value is possible; for example, for “controlling external and internal borders, controlling major migratory flows, facilitating the effective expulsion of illegal immigrants and a better appraisal of the right to asylum”.
The institute's 13 proposals include a goal of 10,000 agents for Frontex; others, more radical, include, for example, the possibility of a liberation from European human rights conventions or EU law to facilitate the return home of people in an irregular situation in the EU. As for asylum seekers, they should be automatically placed in closed centres as a condition for examining their case, the institute proposes; it should also be possible to process more asylum applications outside the EU and to revert to a less extensive definition of refugee status to restore the “original right of asylum”.
Link to the report (in French) : https://bit.ly/2DknHxy. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)