On Monday 16 September in Strasbourg, MEPs debated the consequences of the terrorist attack in Solingen, Germany on 23 August and ways of preventing such acts, as the title of the debate explained, by stepping up the fight against illegal migration and increasing returns.
The perpetrator of the attack that killed three people was a Syrian national, suspected of having links with the Syrian state, who was due to be sent back to Bulgaria.
During the debate, the outgoing Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, noted the Commission’s action over the last five years, which has “strengthened the fight against terrorism” with the “first ever counter-terrorism agenda in 15 years”.
She also welcomed the fact that Member States are making increasing use of the European regulation on the removal of terrorist content online and that a “knowledge hub against radicalisation” was launched in June. “But this is not enough, and the fight against terrorism remains a major challenge”.
On migration and returns, “we have taken decisive steps” with the ‘Pact on Migration and Asylum’, which for the first time creates a system of screening at the EU’s external borders.
The Commissioner also explained that actual returns of illegal immigrants had increased by 32% compared to 2023.
“There is no time to lose”, added the Commissioner, calling on the Member States to implement the Pact as quickly as possible.
In the Chamber, the EPP insisted on a more effective return policy, while the Pact alone will not be enough to solve the problem. The representatives of the Patriots for Europe and the conservatives of the ECR pointed out that, of the 100,000 non-EU citizens ordered to leave the EU in the first quarter of 2024, only 30,000 have actually left. “The Return Directive needs urgent reform”, said the Patriots for Europe group. “Unfortunately, the new migration and asylum package from April will keep this broken system going, encouraging migration without real consequences for breaking the rule”.
For Matthias Ecke (S&D, German), the best way to respond to the challenges is “to work together, to improve communication between law enforcement agencies, but not to fight against migrants”.
“We must have stricter rules on firearms. We must prevent the radicalisation of people here”, he said, accusing the German right of stirring up “hatred” and running the risk of radicalising these people.
“We want a migration policy that works, a policy that welcomes”, whereas the German CDU “wants universal solutions that are not compatible with the EU”.
On Monday 16 September, Olaf Scholz’s German government reintroduced checks at all its internal borders and could experiment with pushback of people who have registered in another member state, as requested by the leader of the conservative opposition, Friedrich Merz. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)