An interparliamentary meeting on migration was held on Monday 14 June with the President of the European Parliament, David Sassoli, and the Presidents of the Portuguese, Slovenian and German Parliaments. The European Parliament President called for a major “European search and rescue operation at sea”, as the EU should not leave this task to NGOs alone.
Citing the effects of the pandemic, which have a “major multiplier effect” on global flows, the Italian also invited the EU to reflect on how it can use its tools, particularly economic ones, to help organise these flows.
For the President of the Portuguese assembly, Eduardo Ferro Rodrigues, one of the answers is to help countries of origin and transit, especially in Africa, where the pandemic has aggravated extreme poverty. The Slovenian Presidency will also continue the work of the Portuguese Presidency of the EU Council on specific migration partnerships with third countries, as migration must be considered within a “global framework” with the countries of origin, stressed Slovenian Minister Igor Zorčič. Germany’s Wolfgang Schäuble also emphasised the need to help stabilise neighbouring regions and assist with economic development.
The Vice-President of the Commission, Margaritis Schinás, recalled the Commission’s initiatives on the external aspect of migration with different actions to fight against migrant smugglers. He recalled the Commission’s work to create “incentives” to help third countries better manage departures, such as trade partnerships or visa policy leverage.
Talent Partnerships initiative
The Commission, for its part, launched on 11 June its initiative on ‘talent partnerships’ announced in the Pact on Migration and Asylum and designed to promote legal labour migration to the EU to address labour shortages in sectors not requiring high qualifications. The initiative will also cover migrants wishing to come and study and will operate on the principle of circular migration, with returns to their countries of origin.
A website has been dedicated to this initiative, which aims to multiply or reinforce projects of this type, sometimes already developed at Member State level, such as the THAMM project, which links countries such as Germany or France with North African countries.
“Talent Partnerships will help match the skills of candidates to work in Europe with labour market needs. Talent Partnerships will also give Europe a great tool to work together with our partner countries on all aspects of migration, something that’s been missing up to now”, said Commissioner Ylva Johansson in a statement.
Link to the website: https://bit.ly/3pQMhNu (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)