Press Office
Athens, 5 March 2021
Parliamentary Committees briefed on New Pact on Migration and Asylum
The New Pact on Migration and Asylum was the subject on today's agenda of the joint committee meeting of the Special Permanent Committee on European Affairs and the Permanent Committee on Public Administration, Public Order and Justice of the Hellenic Parliament. The two competent committees were briefed by the Vice-President of the European Commission, responsible for the promotion of our European way of life, Margaritis Schinas and by the Minister of Μigration and Asylum, Notis Mitarakis.
In his introductory remarks, the 1st Vice-President of the Hellenic Parliament and Chairman of the European Affairs Committee, Nikitas Kaklamanis, acknowledged the important work done by the European Commission to submit the relevant set of proposals, which, however, are far from achieving a fair allocation of burden and responsibility among all member states, and a tangible and effective show of solidarity towards the countries with EU external borders (e.g. Greece, Italy, Spain), which are the main ones bearing the brunt of migration. He also underlined that a permanent and mandatory relocation mechanism could ensure sustainability, justice, on the basis of solidarity, respect for the fundamental right of international protection and would contain secondary movements by mixed populations within the EU.
The Vice-President of the European Commission, Margaritis Schinas, noted that the objective of the new pact is to create an entirely new architecture, based on a comprehensive and coherent approach of the migration issue, highlighting its three pillars: the external dimension, the effective management of Europe's external borders and the establishment of robust and fair internal rules of solidarity, with a degree of flexibility, which is a necessary prerequisite that will allow the EU not to be trapped in political deadlocks, such as the ones that hampered previous efforts to resolve this sensitive issue.
Mr. Schinas briefed MPs on the progress of talks at the Council, which indicate that a convergence of views between member states is visible, but not yet a given and marked the upcoming parliamentary elections in Germany in September and presidential election in France in May 2022 as crucial dates to achieve an agreement, considering that these elections will see intense efforts by Europhobic populists, who are trying to impose the view that Europe is incapable of solving the migration issue. Summing up, Mr. Schinas underlined that right now the main pole of attraction of migrants to Europe is this very lack of a single European asylum policy.
For his part, the Minister of Migration and Asylum, Notis Mitarakis, noted that our country with the help of the European Commission regained control of the migration crisis after a particularly difficult period from 2015 to 2019 and pointed out that in the 12 months of 2020 there was a sharp decline in arrivals by 80%, a decongestion of the Aegean islands by 65%, an increase in grants of asylum by 64%, reaching 106.000 cases where asylum was granted and a reduction in the number of persons remaining in Greece from 94.000 to 64.000.
Regarding the New Pact on Migration and Asylum, the Minister stated that it is our country's goal to achieve an effective, sustainable and fair pact, stressing that this proposal provides for strict and detailed obligations for the member states at the EU's external borders, in contrast, however, to the provisions vis-à-vis solidarity which are less binding.
As far as the EU-Turkey Statement is concerned, Mr. Mitarakis called on the European Union to take the necessary steps for its proper implementation, through a financial mechanism that will be accompanied by a monitoring mechanism which will record new arrivals in Turkey and returns to Turkey on a monthly basis.
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