Mogherini and Timmermans present new partnership with third countries to better manage migration
High Representative Federica Mogherini i and the European Commission today unveiled plans for a new Partnership Framework to mobilise and focus EU action and resources to better manage the external aspects of migration. Under the proposals, the EU will seek tailor-made partnerships with key third countries of origin and transit.
Building on the European Agenda on Migration, the priorities of the proposals are saving lives at sea, enabling migrants and refugees to stay closer to home and, in the long term, helping third countries' development in order to address the root causes of irregular migration.
"Millions of people are on the move worldwide and we can only manage this if we act globally, in full partnership,” Mogherini said.
“For this reason, we are proposing a new approach for strong partnerships with key countries. Our goal, while staying focused on saving lives at sea and dismantling smugglers' networks, is to support the countries that host so many people and foster growth in our partner countries. We are ready to increase financial and operational support and to invest in long-term economic and social development, security, rule of law and human rights, improving people’s lives and tackling the drivers of migration. Our duty, and also our interest, is to give people the chance and the means for a safe and decent life. It is a responsibility Europe shares with the rest of the world: we can only do it together."
The renewed partnership with third countries will take the form of tailored "compacts" that will be developed according to the situation and needs of each partner country, depending on whether they are a country of origin, country of transit or a country hosting many displaced persons. In the short term, the EU will deliver compacts with Jordan and Lebanon and take steps to agree further ones with Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Mali and Ethiopia. It will also increase its broader engagement with Tunisia and Libya.
Europe is experiencing unprecedented irregular migratory flows, driven by geopolitical and economic factors. They are fuelled by unscrupulous smugglers who seek to benefit from the desperation of the vulnerable. The past year, since the adoption of the European Agenda on Migration, has shown that migration policy inside and outside the Union has a direct link. Credible action inside the EU to discourage smuggling and irregular entry and to show that legal pathways exist is critically important to achieving the EU’s external goals.
Related Links:
Fact Sheet: A New Partnership Framework