The leaders of the European Union debated this Thursday how to increase the returns of migrants, a priority issue for all Member States, which are beginning to consider the creation of deportation centers abroada possibility ruled out a few years ago due to doubts about its compatibility with community and international legislation.
The immigration policy returned strongly to the agenda of the European summit, after a few months of less prominence after the adoption of the migration and asylum pact last May.
During the meeting, conclusions were approved that invite the European Commission to “present a new legislative proposal (on returns), as a matter of urgency.” The EU seeks, he adds, “determined action at all levels to facilitate, increase and accelerate returns”; and encourages the use of “all EU policies and instruments” to do so, including diplomacy, development aid, trade and visas.
Although the idea of migrant centers is not new, and in fact Italy has launched an agreement with Albania in this regard this week, the interest of EU countries in this initiative to boost returns has been growing.
This same Thursday it was confirmed at a working breakfast prior to the start of the European Council, in which Italy and ten other EU partners, including Spain, staged their agreement on migration issues.
The meeting, informal and held on the sidelines of the European summit, was promoted by the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, together with her counterparts from Denmark, Mette Frederiksen, and the Netherlands, Dick Schoof. In addition, the leaders of Austria, Cyprus, Greece, Malta, the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary, and the European Commission participated in the meeting.
The objective was to address the immigration file “and, in particular, the issue of innovative solutions” proposed by the European Commission to respond to irregular migration, according to a statement from the Italian Government.
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, spoke of the ideas contained in the letter on migration that she addressed to European leaders last Monday in view of the summit, among which included carrying out a reflection in the EU on the agreement between Italy and Albania, which entails having migrant centers in the Balkan country. At the working breakfast, Meloni presented this agreement, which materialized in the arrival this week of the first irregular migrants at the port of Shengjin.
In her letter, the president of the European Commission also included other ideas, such as accelerate the application of the immigration pactas requested by Spain and also proposed to continue building associations with third countries.
Migration and asylum pact
The EU adopted last May an agreement that aims to manage migration in an orderly and predictable manner. However, many Member States believe, as Francethat this complex legislative construction is missing a “brick”: a regulation that makes returns more effective.
“The European Union has remained halfway in its solution to migration. That is why, together with other countries, we propose more coherent measures, for example, a faster return of those who cannot request protection from third countries or the creation of asylum centers outside Europe,” Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said today.
The Twenty-seven have a Return Directive 2008 and although there is a 2018 proposal to update it, a good number of Member States consider that it is already outdated and that the current situation must be taken into account, which is why they want a new proposal.
Von der Leyen has already announced that presenting a new legislative proposal on these returns will be the first task of the future Commissioner for the Interior, a position to which the Austrian Magnus Brunner aspires.
Arrivals and returns data
According to the European Border Agency (Frontex), between January and September 2024, 166,000 border crossings through irregular routes were detected in the EU, a decrease of 42% compared to the same period last year.
In the western balkan route and of Mediterranean There has been the greatest decrease in arrivals, with a drop of 79% and 64% respectively.
However, there is a 100% increase in interceptions of people in an irregular situation in the route of the canary islandswhere in the first nine months of the year 30,616 cases have been detected and the largest increase in the entire EU has occurred on the EU’s eastern border, which recorded almost three times as many irregular entry attempts, with an increase of 192% in interceptions and a total of 13,195 cases.
For its part, the rate of expulsions of people who have received an order to leave the EU for not having the right to request international protection has practically stagnated for years at around 20% according to the European Commission.
In 2023, Some 83,400 foreign citizens were expelled to a country outside the EUthat is, 19% of all return decisions issued during the year, compared to 17% in 2022.
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