Malta’s EU Minister Louis Grech today emphasised the importance of solidarity and shared responsibility if the EU is to effectively address the human tragedy of migration flows in the Mediterranean.
He was speaking during a teleconference over lunch with the President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy and the other European EU ministers to prepare for the upcoming European Council and discuss the draft conclusions.
Malta, together with Greece and Italy made a proposal considering migration flows for consideration by the European Council. The proposal garnered support by a number of European Ministers.
Mr Grech said it was not possible for the EU to treat recent events as if they were yesterday’s business and called for a debate by the heads of state and government at the next European Council this week.
He said the conclusions needed to recall the importance that current policies and tools, including legal, are reviewed to “make them work” for the challenges of today.
The European Union, Mr Grech said, came out extremely passive when faced with a situation that was so sensitive and tragic for so many people.
And while the European Union was in its reflective mood, organised crime in the form of smuggling and trafficking of persons was rife and increasing relentlessly.
“The Union is doing too little too late,” he said adding that it was unfortunate that so many hundreds of people had to perish for the issue to be brought once again at the forefront of discussion at European level.
He highlighted the need that European action to be commensurate with the significance of the phenomenon and the magnitude of the challenge.
Mr Grech emphasised that this matter deserved a serious and comprehensive European approach.
In this regard, Malta welcomed the recent decision to establish a task force. Mr Grech called for this task force to address fundamental issues which were long overdue, in the spirit of solidarity and shared responsibility.
Its remit, he said, could not be curtailed to a mere stock-take and it should be mandated to come up with new ideas and identify concrete measures that can be implemented both in the short and long term.
He referred to joint initiatives to mobilise the involvement of international initiatives including those of the United Nations and the International Organisation for Migration, especially with regard to cooperation with third countries of origin and transit, particularly Libya.
He underlined that it was also important to take concrete action to develop the capacity for the establishment of a comprehensive asylum system in countries of origin and transit so that asylum applications can be handled through this system. It was also important to address the causes of the problem in the countries of origin, including through the mobilisation of the EU development co-operation policy. In this regard, he underlined the importance to develop a realistic European return policy.
Mr Grech warned that all efforts would prove futile unless all member states subscribed to the principle of solidarity and responsibility and burden sharing. Malta also proposed that asylum and migration policy issues should feature regularly on the agenda of the European Council.