Faced with escalating tensions in the Middle East, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni are stepping up the pressure on the EU to anticipate a potential ‘migration crisis’.
On the fringes of the European summit, held on Thursday 19 March, the two heads of government sent a joint letter to António Costa, President of the European Council, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, and the leaders of the other Member States, calling for an immediate strengthening of the external borders and the creation of an emergency mechanism.
Ms Frederiksen and Ms Meloni warned of the risk of a repeat of the massive flows of 2015-2016 describing such a prospect as a “humanitarian catastrophe” that threatens the “security and cohesion of our Union”. In this context, they stressed the need to assist refugees and migrants directly in their regions of origin.. “We must immediately provide sufficient support to our partners and host States in the Middle East”, they wrote, while urging the Commission to explore an “emergency brake” that could be activated in the event of force majeure in the face of large-scale migratory movements.
The letter was generally well received, as the European Council incorporated these suggestions into its conclusions following the summit. The document now states that “on the basis of the lessons learned from the 2015 migration crisis and to avoid a similar situation, the EU is ready to fully mobilise its diplomatic, legal, operational and financial tools to prevent uncontrolled migratory movements”.
These concerns had been echoed at an informal meeting with the European Commission, organised that very morning at the initiative of Italy, Denmark and the Netherlands. Around fifteen countries (including Germany, Poland, Greece and Austria) met to discuss so-called “innovative” solutions for managing migration. The central objective remains the tightening of the legal framework for returns and the securing of borders in the face of the potential repercussions of the regional conflict.
To allay the fears of the heads of state during the meeting, Ursula von der Leyen detailed the current areas of work, including the €458 million humanitarian package allocated to the Middle East (see EUROPE 13829/5) and progress on the ‘Return’ Regulation, for which Parliament’s negotiating mandate is due to be voted on soon (see EUROPE 13830/9). Discussions also focused on the updated concepts of ‘safe countries of origin’ and ‘safe third countries’, key tools for speeding up procedures (see EUROPE 13814/34).
Participating states intend to take this common position to the International Migration Review Forum, scheduled to take place in New York in May.
Link to the conclusions: https://aeur.eu/f/l9l (Original version in French by Justine Manaud)