European Parliament to draft report on long-term response to migration

The European Parliament has initiated a cross-party report tasked with coming up with a medium- and long-term response to migration that will be led by Maltese MEP Roberta Metsola and Italian Socialist MEP Cécile Kyenge.

The report aims to suggest measures the European Union can take to respond to migratory flows in the Mediterranean. It will look at every aspect of migration, from how the EU can organise itself to save lives, dismantle trafficking networks, improve fair sharing of responsibility, help countries in sub-Saharan Africa get back on their feet, examine legal options to migration and look at how EU funds in the area are best spent.

Last week EU Member States agreed on a series of emergency measures aimed at doing more to save lives at sea. But according to Metsola, "the measures agreed to by Prime Ministers are an attempt immediate response to an immediate crisis. Our report will go much further and examine all the EU's policies in-depth to see how and where we can do better. We will go beyond an immediate response".

"This is a huge challenge, but I am convinced that the only way forward on this issue is for every political group to put aside partisan interests and look beyond our five-year political mandate. We need to move on from emergency responses to an immediate crisis and look at the longer term answers to migration and asylum. We know the EU's current systems do not provide for an adequate solution, leading to annual crises in the Mediterranean. This needs to stop," Metsola said.

She added: "Both Cécile Kyenge and myself, as the MEPs chosen to draft this report, are determined to present a product that will change how Europe responds to migration."