On Tuesday 16 December, nineteen Member States - Germany, Malta, the Netherlands, Italy, Poland, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Bulgaria, Romania, Sweden, Finland, Greece, the Czech Republic, as well as Cyprus and Denmark - requested new financial resources to implement the new “innovative solutions” for managing irregular migration, in a letter addressed to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, as well as Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration Magnus Brunner and High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas.
In this letter, revealed on the evening of Tuesday 16 December by Politico and sent ahead of the European Summit, which on 18 and 19 December will address the latest advances in the field of asylum and migration, as well as the future European budget, the interior and foreign affairs ministers of these countries also call for “further developing innovative solutions, creating necessary conditions within the EU legal framework and policies to ensure that these partnerships are practical and sustainable”.
While the EU has already negotiated migration arrangements with Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania as part of more global partnerships, and on 8 December the EU Council opened the door to return centres in third countries (see EUROPE 13768/1), the ministers write that “the efficient use of financial resources is necessary for the establishment and operationalisation of innovative forms of cooperation”.
With the right funding structure in place, “programmes can be designed and implemented to create the conditions for establishing innovative solutions more swiftly in the future. A coordinated strategy is needed for funding instruments”.
They call on the European Commission to draw up guidelines on the use of current and future EU funding programmes to support the development and implementation of innovative solutions.
“In regard to the upcoming Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), and without prejudging the negotiations, the undersigned ministers stress the need for sufficient attention for funding the internal and external dimensions of migration including innovative solutions, among others through the use of Global Europe and an effective governance mechanism”.
EU agencies and international organisations can play a decisive role throughout the exploration, design, implementation and monitoring phases of innovative solutions.
The signatories therefore invite the Commission and EU agencies “to explore and propose, within their respective competences, the necessary legislative and policy changes. This includes, where relevant, revision of the mandate and competences of Frontex, to ensure effective support and sufficient capacity in this area of cooperation with third countries”.
All these countries are due to meet on the morning of Thursday 18 December for the now traditional breakfast prior to any European summit on migration issues.
Link to the letter: https://aeur.eu/f/k1c (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)