EU Commission: Pact on Migration and Asylum. Von der Leyen, “new balance between responsibility and solidarity”

“We are proposing today a European solution, to rebuild trust between Member States and to restore citizens’ confidence in our capacity to manage migration as a Union”. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said this as she presented the new EU Pact on Migration and Asylum. “The EU has already proven in other areas that it can take extraordinary steps to reconcile diverging perspectives”, the president pointed out. “We have created a complex internal market, a common currency and an unprecedented recovery plan to rebuild our economies. It is now time to rise to the challenge to manage migration jointly, with the right balance between solidarity and responsibility”. The Commission is proposing a “Pact” covering “all of the different elements needed for a comprehensive European approach to migration. It sets out improved and faster procedures throughout the asylum and migration system”. Vice-President for Promoting our European Way of Life, Margaritis Schinas, said: “Moria is a stark reminder” that we cannot “live in a house half-built. The time has come to rally around a common, European migration policy. The Pact provides the missing pieces of the puzzle for a comprehensive approach to migration. No one Member State experiences migration in the same way and the different and unique challenges faced by all deserve to be recognised, acknowledged and addressed”.
Valentina Bombelli