EU Summit outcome very disappointing

Cecilia Wikstrom (Folkpartiet liberalerna, Sweden), MEP, ALDE coordinator on the civil liberties committee: “The European Council has failed; we need to see binding measures to ensure EU Member States contribute to search and rescue operations and mandatory resettlement programs.”

The ALDE group urges the Commission to come forward with following four policy actions:

1) Replacement of the Dublin system by a centralised European asylum system;
2) An overhaul of the blue card system;
3) Extend the mandate of Frontex to give it the capacity to become a real European agency with rescue competences in international water and compulsory contributions from Member States;
4) The creation of safe havens in failed states

Commenting on the European Council conclusions, Guy Verhofstadt, ALDE president, said:

“Again we have reached the lowest common denominator. Everybody in the room knew that tripling the budget of Triton will not prevent new disasters, if nothing is done about the root causes of this crisis. Our lack of action is a recipe for a new disaster.”

“We have to take away the incentives for people to step in a boat in the first place. This will only happen if we introduce a revised asylum system which gives people the possibility to apply for a humanitarian visa at home and an equivalent to the US green card: a well-functioning European blue card.”
You find our blueprint for a European migration policy here.