Guest article by Manfred Weber: Five ideas – so that our migration policy finally works
The head of the European People’s Party, Manfred Weber, calls on the EU states to find a common solution in the fight against illegal migration. If it fails, the consequences would be “devastating,” the CSU politician warns – and makes five concrete suggestions.
After months of ignoring it, above all by the German traffic light government, the EU interior ministers, on the initiative of the Swedish EU Council Presidency, have finally put migration policy back on the agenda. It’s high time because the number of irregular migrants is higher than it has been for a long time. In just one year, it has increased by 60 percent.
When the EU interior ministers sound the alarm now, they are ultimately warning of their own failure. Dealing with migration is treated like a hot potato. This strategy of sitting out has failed. The reception centers are full, the EU states would sleepwalk into a new migration crisis without action. The time window for a joint European solution is closing.
The example of Ukraine has shown that we help people in need
The Schengen area without border controls is one of the great achievements of the EU and EU citizens and businesses in the internal market reap the benefits. It is correct: If the protection of the EU’s external borders and the controls do not work, open internal borders are in danger. This has been the case up to now and that is why the strengthening of the EU’s external borders must be the priority.
What is important to me: human rights and the rule of law, freedom, peace and solidarity – this is what our current Europe is based on. The right of asylum as a European achievement must be secured, defended against abuse and enforced for those for whom it was intended and made. We will defend the right to asylum against attacks by far-right parties who want to undermine it.
The help for the refugees from Ukraine has shown: We help people in need. Europeans can be proud of this willingness to help. This must remain so. For war refugees from Ukraine, as before from Syria, Europe was and is still a place of refuge.
However, more than half of the migrants who arrive in Europe have no reason for asylum or are not granted refugee status. Without a functioning migration policy, there is a risk that at some point citizens will withdraw their trust in migration policy and the radical parties will benefit from it.
Five proposals for a functioning migration policy
On which it depends?
First and foremost, the EU needs better protection of its external borders with a fully operational border and coast guard, preferably with a proper EU border guard. The EU is not a fortress that seals itself off, but the greatest task remains securing the external borders against people smugglers and controlling entry into the EU. The democratically legitimized constitutional state must decide who can come to Europe and not organized crime, not hybrid war. An effective infrastructure is needed that allows migration flows to be managed, managed and controlled. This is already working well at some points on the EU’s external border, if necessary with physical measures.
Secondly, faster asylum procedures and functioning repatriation agreements are needed. Only a good fifth of the rejected migrants or those who are required to leave the country leave the country or are actually returned. In the same way, the seamless and complete registration of arrivals is crucial for the functioning of the systems. In order to better protect asylum seekers, EU asylum offices should be set up in North and Central Africa, where refugees can safely apply for asylum. EU officials could assess there on the spot whether the migrants have a chance of staying in the EU. This would make some of the dangerous crossings of the Mediterranean unnecessary.
Third, a new approach to sea rescue in the Mediterranean needs to be found. Unfortunately, the state EU mission to rescue migrants no longer exists. However, it cannot be the case that the responsibility for saving human lives is shifted to private organisations. The federal government should initiate a new EU mission together with the countries bordering the Mediterranean, instead of annoying our European partners by going it alone.
Fourth, if the external border protection works, internal solidarity is necessary. As before, the EU states with an EU external border or a few countries that take in most migrants are left pretty much alone. Unfortunately, a solid solidarity mechanism has failed. But a graduated solidarity mechanism remains correct and would also be feasible.
Fifth, we Europeans have a duty to work to combat the causes of flight. This means, for example, not making Europe even more of a starting point and target for hybrid attacks by using false pull factors. Australia, Canada and the USA are countries that are similarly attractive to the EU and that not only manage to operate an appropriate policy on irregular migration.
They also succeed in recruiting urgently needed specialists and in pursuing an integration policy that appeals far better to those to be integrated. The EU must also dedicate itself to this form of legal migration with more commitment. The future viability of the continent is also determined by a functioning migration policy.
The EU states now have it in their own hands to do better than in the great migration crisis of 2015. It’s time for everyone to face reality. It’s time everyone moved. There must be no failure this time. The consequences would be devastating.
Manfred Weber (50) is EPP party and parliamentary group leader and deputy CSU party leader.
