Since the formation of the ECR Group, we have pointed out the flaws in the EU’s migration system and been the voice of reform and change for the Common European Asylum System. As one of the ECR Group’s founding principles, this is a key priority. The EU system currently in place is not effective in dealing with the modern challenges of globalisation, regional conflicts and poverty, and mass migration.
First and foremost we need a migration system which respects the voice and wishes of its Member States and its citizens. For any EU migration system to be sustainable, then it needs to have the full backing of all of its Member States and the people of Europe. The EU cannot continue to impose an immigration system which is backed by only a few of its Member States. A system of cooperation rather than compulsion must prevail.
Instead, the EU should be focusing on getting the basics right. The ECR believes a more sustainable level of immigration to the EU can be achieved if:
- we provide more support for Member States to protect the EU’s external border,
- increase the rate of returns for failed asylum seekers to their country of origin,
- combat abuse of the EU’s asylum system,
- strengthen the role of FRONTEX,
- adopt EU wide measures which have the backing of ALL Member States,
- and continue to work with third countries to reach cooperation agreements to prevent migrants making the life-endangering journey across the Mediterranean to the EU.