Members of the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties questioned Swedish Justice and Migration Ministers Gunnar Strömmer and Maria Malmer Stenergard on Monday 30 January on the priorities of the Swedish Presidency of the EU Council.
They mainly questioned their degree of commitment to the European project and the room for manoeuvre they have in migration and home affairs policies, while the Swedish government is supported by the far-right Sweden Democrats.
The Minister for Justice was asked about Sweden’s willingness to push ahead with the enlargement of the Schengen area, after Romania and Bulgaria were rejected in December following opposition from Austria and the Netherlands.
Austria in particular had raised concerns regarding the management of secondary movements. Gunnar Strömmer assured that he would do “everything to find a way out” and to bring together views on the matter, while the Commission confirmed that both countries had complied with all the rules.
However, he also felt that Austria’s view could be understood and be “legitimate” from a certain point of view. All opinions will be taken into account, said the minister, who could not give a timetable for a new decision on these two countries.
Asked about his country’s humanitarian ambitions in terms of receiving refugees by his compatriot Evin Incir (S&D), the minister provided assurances that “we will continue to respect our commitments”.
The Swedish MEP said that the Swedish Presidency will find it difficult to influence its partners and pursue an ambitious goal in the EU Council as Stockholm has just launched an international campaign to discourage asylum applications in the country.
For her part, Maria Malmer Stenergard repeatedly reiterated the Swedish Presidency’s desire to reach several agreements on the texts of the ‘Pact on Migration and Asylum’ with “a common approach in June” on the Asylum and Migration Management Regulation (ex-Dublin) and, if possible, the opening of trilogues in the wake of this.
She said she hoped the trilogues on migrant screening and Eurodac would be finalised and said she would respect the timetable set out in the Roadmap signed with the European Parliament.
On return policy, the minister reiterated the message given at the informal meeting of interior ministers in Stockholm at the end of the week, namely to use all the tools at the EU’s disposal to put pressure on third countries whether it be on visa policy, trade and development aid.
When asked about the construction of walls at the external borders, the minister preferred to respond by saying that it is thanks to better management of the EU’s common borders that the question of solidarity will become “less pressing” between Member States.
EPP group in the European Parliament calls for serious discussion of EU external border fences
On the same day, Dutch MEP Jeroen Lenaers presented the position of his EPP group ahead of a debate on the forthcoming European Council on 9-10 February.
The group will adopt a 5-point plan on 1 February, including the question of financing such infrastructure from the EU budget, an issue that needs to be seriously considered and requires “leadership”. The group also wants to revive the idea of regional landing platforms in North African countries from where asylum claims to the EU would be processed.
The European asylum system is now weakened by people arriving in the EU “who are not vulnerable”, he argued.
The EPP group’s proposals also include more decisive action on returns and the development of a code of conduct for NGOs in rescue operations at sea. EUROPE will continue to cover this story. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)