European In the Spotlight Union
Dimitris Avramopoulos, European Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship
Interview: Dimitris Avramopoulos, European Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship
Human mobility will be an st inherent feature of the 21 century and we have to be better prepared to seize the opportunities and manage the risks Prepared by Tina Drolc, M.Sc.
The refugee crisis that Europe has been facing shows no signs of easing and Dimitris Avramopoulos, European Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, explains that the EU needs a robust and effective system for sustainable migration management as the status quo of our asylum and migration management is not an option. Mr Avramopoulos emphasises the old friendship between the EU and Turkey which goes beyond the current refugee crisis, and points out the global dimension of the crisis.
4
The Slovenian Times | Summer Edition 2016
Q Due to the refugee crisis, the EU Commission has been importantly addressing a common European asylum system and an EU migration policy as a whole, seeking a long-term solution. What are the features of the migration policy that we will see in the EU in the future? A The current refugee crisis has shown that the status quo of our asylum and migration management is not an option. The EU needs a robust and effective system for sustainable migration management for the future that is fair for host societies and EU citizens, as well as for third country nationals and countries of origin and transit. The way the refugee crisis has also affected countries along the Western Balkan route is an important example of that. Slovenia has played a crucial role in upholding and implementing a European and collective approach in addressing these challenges. And such an approach is precisely what we already envisaged in our European Agenda on Migration, but also in our recent proposals to reform the Common European Asylum System. Soon we will also present a reform of the European Blue Card to better attract talent from abroad and an EU Action Plan on Integration to step-up support to Member States in this field. What we need is a comprehensive system grounded on common rules of solidarity and a fairer sharing of responsibility at all levels, because human mobility will be an inherent feature of the 21st century and we have to be better prepared to both seize the opportunities and manage the risks, collectively. Q In order to improve border control, the EU has set up hotspots (processing and registration centres) in Italy and Greece. How do these hotspots facilitate access for people who have a legitimate interest in entering the EU? A Our hotspot system is not to manage borders as such, but to better support frontline Member States to screen, identify and fingerprint all the newly arrived migrants, to determine whether they will need genuine protection or not, and to find out more about the smuggling routes used with the help of experts from EU agencies such as the European Asylum Support Office, Frontex and Europol. That is why the full implementation of the hotspot mechanism is fundamental in guaranteeing an effective management of the migration flows at the EU’s southern external borders. This means that everyone who arrives at the European external borders is properly screened according to the same rules, as set out according to the Common European Asylum System, and checked for all relevant background information, including security issues. Everyone is interviewed on an individual, case-by-case basis. Under the current relocation mechanism, only Syrians, Iraqis and Eritreans can be relocated. However, that doesn’t mean that other na-