Removing proposals from the asylum package, presented in 2016, is clearly not a "solution", but only after a discussion with Member States on how to unblock the reform of the European asylum system can decisions be made. It is with this caution and without concrete proposals that the Commissioner-designate for Home Affairs, Swedish Social Democrat Ylva Johansson, former Labour Minister, answered questions put to her by Parliament's Civil Liberties Committee on Tuesday 1st October on this controversial legislative package.
Visibly not afraid to disappoint MEPs, she repeated several times that she was unable - at this stage - to propose concrete ways out of the impasse, or to "make promises" on the new Pact for Migration and Asylum that the 'von der Leyen' Commission intends to propose once it takes office.
"No, I don't think there will be any concrete proposals within 100 days", she even replied to Lena Dupont (EPP, Germany), who asked her what she intended to do in the first few days of her mandate.
"There would be no happier woman if I could unlock [the reform of the so-called] Dublin [Regulation] with a magic wand. But it's not that simple. If it were, it would have been done a long time ago", she replied Damien Carême (Greens/EFA, France).
The Commissioner-designate confirmed that she did not want to "start from scratch" and hoped that "we can build on what the European Parliament has done". But, she recalled at the beginning of her speech, "these questions divide us". There is an "urgent need to find solutions, I will listen, find common denominators", she promised.
Mrs Johansson also insisted on the fact that solidarity in migration matters "cannot be voluntary". "We must help each other, there are very concrete ways of doing this", she said, but did not specify whether she was talking about a mandatory distribution of migrants between Member States. This issue is at the heart of the problem on the revision of the so-called Dublin Regulation.
In her introductory statement, the candidate for the succession of Dimitris Avramopoulos had in any case made it clear that she did not consider migration as a "threat to the security" of the European Union, while she would work with her counterpart Margaritis Schinas, in charge of leading the controversial portfolio devoted to the protection of the European way of life.
While supporting the title of Mr Schinas' portfolio, Mrs Johansson stressed both the development of humanitarian corridors to the EU to prevent people from risking their lives at sea and the strengthening of the capacity to resettle refugees to the EU, an area where the Union can do more.
The candidate also stressed the role of NGOs in the rescue of migrants at sea and indicated that she would work to establish a permanent approach to rescue and rescue operations, again without going into detail.
On economic migration, Mrs Johansson reiterated on many occasions that Europe would need labour and that channels for legal labour migration should be developed using "skilled workers".
Train the Libyan coastguard in respect of fundamental rights
Asked about the situation in Libya, the Swedish Commissioner-designate said that cooperation with the Libyan coast guard should not be stopped. On the contrary, it is necessary to continue to train them to learn about fundamental rights, the candidate said.
Among her priorities, Mrs Johansson also indicated that she would work on a more effective return policy, a policy that must go hand in hand with the review of the asylum system. People who cannot legitimately claim protection will have to leave and "readmission agreements" with non-Member States will be strengthened or even multiplied, she replied, particularly to the EPP group, which was concerned about what she would do about illegal immigration.
While the issue of migration and asylum dominated the hearing, the Swedish Social Democrat also committed herself to restoring the functioning of the Schengen Area of free movement of persons. She will discuss with those Member States that are currently carrying out temporary controls at internal borders.
Mrs Johansson also supported a new strategy to combat human trafficking, noting that 50% of victims of trafficking in Europe are nationals of Member States.
At the end of her hearing, the Chairman of the parliamentary committee, Juan Fernando Lopez (S&D) of Spain, said that Mr Johansson had demonstrated her political experience and had given signs of "her good composition".
But the EPP group was not convinced and felt that her performance had lacked details. While they appreciated the Commissioner-designate's support for the concept of protecting the European way of life, she will still have to be questioned on other subjects, such as terrorist threats, Europol and the restoration of Schengen, said Roberta Metsola of Malta, at the end of the hearing.
The commission coordinators were scheduled to meet starting at 7pm on Tuesday to evaluate this performance. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)