Renew Europe supports new push to secure an Asylum and Migration reform

Renew Europe has been working tirelessly to finalise the EU’s asylum and migration reform, but this is only possible if all aspects of the reform are included. Interinstitutional talks on the Eurodac and Screening regulation of the Asylum and Migration Pact are today put on hold by the European Parliament, as a response to the Council’s delayed agreement on the Crisis regulation.

The Crisis Regulation constitutes a crucial part of the pact, laying down the mechanisms to support member states in times of extraordinary migration pressure, and cannot be left behind. Renew Europe calls on the Council to take the necessary steps to deliver a Migration and Asylum Pact as soon as possible.

Sophie in 't Veld (Netherlands), Coordinator of the Renew Europe Group in the Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Civil Liberties (LIBE) and Member of the European Parliament's Asylum Contact Group, said:

“The situation on Lampedusa underlines the urgent need for an EU Crisis instrument, including measures of solidarity with countries of first arrival. The stalemate in the Council on the legislative work on the Crisis regulation is therefore very regretful. The Council is now 2,5 months past the deadline foreseen by the Road Map, to which both institutions have agreed. In line with the principles underpinning the Road Map, Parliament has decided to suspend the trilogues on Eurodac and Screening. However, we are ready to continue work on these files on technical level, so that trilogues can be resumed as soon as the Council adopts its position on the Crisis Regulation. This is a call on the council to take its responsibility and finish its work on the Crisis Regulation. Renew is fully committed to adopting the full asylum and migration package before the European elections in 2024. Failure is not an option.”

Fabienne Keller (Renaissance, France), Vice-Coordinator of the Renew Europe group in the LIBE Committee and Member of the European Parliament's Asylum Contact Group:

”Citizens from Lampedusa and all over Europe are looking at us for responsibility and to bring efficient solutions to the challenge of migration. It's not a time for hesitation. With my Group Renew Europe, we strongly push for finalising the reform of the European Pact on migration and asylum, for better managed borders and greater solidarity. I refuse to pave the way for the extreme right who wish to split our societies on the issue of immigration. Let's get the work finished.”

Background: The decision was taken by the Asylum Contact Group, which consists of the rapporteurs of all the Asylum and Migration pact legislative proposals, as a working group within the Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee, as a forum for discussions on the migration and asylum pact.