Europe steps up fight against illegal migration

Today, Europe is taking another important step in its fight against illegal migration. The Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs agreed on the Parliament’s mandate on the new Return Regulation, a new law aimed at speeding up the return of migrants who have no right to stay in the EU.

"People who do not have the right to stay in Europe must leave. A functioning migration policy is impossible if return decisions are not enforced," said François-Xavier Bellamy MEP, who led negotiations for the EPP Group on the new law. "Every year, nearly half a million people staying illegally in the EU receive a return order, but only about one in five are actually returned. This is simply unacceptable."

"This vote marks a real turning point. We are finally moving beyond the 2008 Returns Directive, which did not work and often limited Member States instead of helping them enforce returns. The revision of this directive has been blocked for the last eight years: this issue is now resolved," Bellamy said.

"The new rules will strengthen consequences for those who do not cooperate with return procedures, prevent migrants from disappearing during the process, and extend the use of detention and entry bans where necessary. They must also establish a clear legal framework for return hubs in third countries to make returns more effective, while still allowing Member States to prioritise voluntary returns. The EPP promised to restore control of migration, and we are delivering,” Bellamy added.

"Without effective returns, the Migration Pact cannot work," explained Tomas Tobé, EPP Group Vice-Chair and the European Parliament’s chief negotiator on the Migration Pact.

"Over the past months, the EPP has worked intensively to find a common approach with the other platform groups. Our objective has been to build an agreement at the political centre of the European Parliament. Unfortunately, in the final phase of the negotiations, the Socialists refused to support key elements of the proposal, including limitations on entry bans, the suspensive effect and return hubs. This effectively led to their withdrawal from the negotiations," Tobé said.

"The EPP has therefore tabled a political compromise that builds on the Commission proposal and is largely in line with what EU Member States have already agreed in the Council. This compromise has been prepared with the urgency of the issue in mind. The Commission proposal was released one year ago, and the Member States in the Council reached their position three months ago, and we believe it is important to move quickly towards an agreement in the trilogue negotiations to finally deliver on our voters' demands and expectations.

With this file, we will complete the last piece of the Migration Pact. We call on all reasonable political groups of the European Parliament to take responsibility and support this approach," Tobé concluded.