The EU must urgently adopt the new Pact on Migration and Asylum. This was the call today from progressives meeting in the Migration and Integration (MIN) Network of the Party of European Socialists (PES).
Progressive European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson attended the Network to update participants on the state of play of negotiations on the Pact.
Chair of the PES Migration and Integration Network, Swedish MEP Carina Ohlsson said:
“Migration has always existed, and it always will. The question is how we best manage it, in line with our progressive and European values.
“When other political families are focused on whipping up fear and resentment, we are pushing for a new, positive, and sustainable approach to this topic.
“Our political family has put forward a progressive Pact on Migration and Asylum, presenting an opportunity to move from an ad hoc, crisis-driven approach to a fair, safe, sustainable and predictable one. It is vital that European co-legislators find an agreement on this Pact before the end of this political mandate.”
Speaking at the meeting, European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson said:
“We are making good progress in the negotiations. I’m optimistic that we will achieve this mandate something that has not been done before. That is to have a comprehensive policy, an EU way of managing migration and asylum, with mandatory solidarity, with relocation, strong safeguards for individual rights for applicants and a humane and effective way of dealing with those who do not have the right to stay.”
The Network commended Commissioner Johansson for her continuing efforts to find an agreement on the Pact during this mandate.
The Network also held a strategic discussion on communication on migration with Deputy Director at the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, Rob McNeil. His work focuses on how news stories and narratives about migration and migrants emerge, how media debate affects migration policy decisions, and how information gaps affect how these issues are discussed.
