The Heads of State and Government of the European Union have advocated on Friday to urgently mobilize more «funds and means» to strengthen the «protection» of the common external border through «resources and infrastructure», without clarifying its scope, in the midst of the struggle between countries like Austria or Greece that demand European money to pay for the construction of fences and others that, with the support of Brussels, advocate investing in other control instruments.
In the final text agreed among leaders after several hours of discussion at the extraordinary summit held in Brussels, the governments call on the European Commission to «immediately mobilize substantial European funds and means to support Member States in strengthening the protection of resources and infrastructure for border protection».
The governments list among the possibilities means of «aerial surveillance» and equipment and call on the European Commission to «rapidly finalize» the European Integrated Border Management Strategy.
In this context, the head of the Community Executive, Ursula von der Leyen, has insisted that it is essential for the EU-27 to reach an agreement on the Migration Pact within a year, although in the meantime «operational» measures that can be implemented as soon as possible should be accelerated.
Von der Leyen also explained that two pilot projects are being outlined that will combine «European, bilateral and national funding» for better management, including «mobile and immobile infrastructures», for example, he said, watchtowers, digital surveillance systems and installation of cameras; as well as to streamline registration procedures and returns.
The 27 also ask the EU executive to finance measures with which the Member States contribute «directly» to the control of the common external border, «such as pilot projects for border management and the strengthening of border control in key countries for transit routes to the EU».
«We know that there is no miraculous measure that will solve (the migratory pressure),» said the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, at a press conference at the end of the leaders’ meeting in which he also stressed that the conclusions of the meeting point to immediate «very operational» solutions on which the partners will have to work in the coming weeks.
Among them, the development of specific action plans for «all» irregular routes of entry to Community soil, which, in addition to those already presented for the western Balkans and the eastern Mediterranean, involves initiatives to measures for routes to Spain, such as the Atlantic and western Mediterranean.
The partners validate the main lines of the proposals recently put forward by the Community Executive, for example to speed up deportations of migrants who are not entitled to international protection by improving EU procedures – so that an expulsion order issued in one Member State is applicable in the rest – or to improve cooperation with countries of origin and transit, including offering them resources to improve their control and open legal channels.
Visa policy is another key external dimension of migration control in the eyes of the leaders, who warn that neighboring countries such as those in the Balkans will have to align their visa policies with those of the EU to maintain liberalization and also insist on using visa restrictions as a measure of pressure on uncooperative third countries.
They also recognize the «specificities» of maritime borders, including in terms of rescue, and point to the need to strengthen cooperation in search and rescue activities.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
