Speech: Remarks by Commissioner Avramopoulos at the press conference on the state of play of progress under the European Agenda on Migration and the presentation of the action plan on travel document security

Ladies and gentlemen,

We are not in a crisis mode as we were a year ago. But the refugee crisis is not over yet. We have to continuously ensure the implementation of all our actions.

We have always said that our migration policy needs to be comprehensive.

And today, once again, we show how interconnected our actions are and how we still have to redouble our efforts so that our actions produce tangible results. 

The success of our migration policy depends on all our actions not just one.

For relocation and resettlement: November has been a record month. We have relocated more than 1400 refugees in a single month - the highest so far. This brings the total to more than 8,000 relocations so far.

For Greece we have reached a stable relocation trend at 1,000 per month, and for Italy, last month, the relocations basically doubled. 

Now is precisely the moment to sustain this success. This is why we call on Member States to ensure at least 2,000 relocations per month from Greece, and 1,000 from Italy.  

And by April 2017, to increase this to 3,000 per month from Greece and 1,500 from Italy.

Now is not the moment to hold back on pledges or actual relocations, but to further intensify all efforts.

One of the most urgent issues is to speed up and increase relocations for unaccompanied minors from both Greece and Italy, and to ensure adequate reception conditions and guardianship for them.

Let me just also add that for resettlement we have made great progress too with more than 2,000 additional resettlements since the last period, bringing the total up to 13,887 resettlements so far.

In the meantime, the EU-Turkey Statement continues to work and bear results.

Arrivals continue to be low, with an average daily arrival of less than 80 persons a day. Our focus right now is to increase the returns, not only as part of the Statement, but also to alleviate the pressure from the Greek Islands.

As regards visa liberalisation, the Commission and Turkey have continued and are continuing an engaged and committed dialogue to find solutions on all outstanding benchmarks.

Coming back to Greece: Greece has made significant progress under very difficult conditions to put in place a fully functioning asylum system over the last months. And I want to commend Greece for this.

I am very satisfied to announce that today, we close the infringement procedures against Greece and Italy in relation to Eurodac. Indeed both countries have a near 100% fingerprinting rate for all irregular arrivals.

In Greece, right now there are more than 70,000 permanent and temporary reception places available. More than 650 persons will work in the Greek asylum service by the end of the year, compared to 350 in September.

But, let me also repeat once again that no single Member State should be shouldering such responsibilities alone.

Neither Greece nor Italy nor any other country in the future should be left alone to bear an unsustainable burden.

Greece is facing huge challenges in implementing the EU-Turkey Statement. The number of asylum application was multiplied by four. This is why we are recommending a gradual resumption of Dublin transfers of asylum seekers starting next year. 

First let me be clear, that this is not a decision the Commission takes and the ultimate responsibility for resuming transfers lies with the Member States and their national courts. 

But there are four reasons why - in the Commission's assessment - Member States should be in a position to partially resume transfers next year. 

Firstly, because the situation in Greece has greatly improved since 2011, as I just mentioned. Secondly, because doing so will encourage relocation efforts.

Asylum seekers need to know that they cannot relocate themselves and that if they do so, they will be sent back. Relocation and resettlement should and will be the ways for them to use in order to reach safety.

Thirdly, the resumption of Dublin transfers will be particularly important in view of the future reform of the Dublin system. The new Dublin system we proposed, and which is now under discussion by Parliament and Council, includes a fairness mechanism which relies on the effective carrying out of Dublin transfers.

And lastly, returning to a fully functioning Dublin system is a key element in restoring a normal functioning of the Schengen area under our 'Back to Schengen' Roadmap.

With all of these reasons in mind, the Commission is therefore recommending that Member States start to resume Dublin transfers as of mid-March 2017.

Transfers should not be applied retroactively, meaning only those that enter Greece, after the 15 of March and afterwards travel irregularly to other countries will be returned back to Greece.

We are also recommending that this only apples to certain categories of migrants. Vulnerable applicants and unaccompanied minors will NOT be returned to Greece.

And all transfers should be on the basis of individual assurances in each case, by the Greek authorities. Every time a Member State wants to execute a Dublin transfer, they should only do so after they have received assurances from the Greek authorities that that particular applicant will be received in the conditions mandated by European law.

This also means that in each individual transfer case, Greece will be able to specify whether the conditions are still such that Greece is in a position to receive additional applicants.

If the conditions change, for example if the number of arrivals into Greece goes up again, then the Commission will review its recommendation.

In practice only a very small number of people will fall in this category in the near future. This will only be possible if it is accompanied by continued efforts by the Greek authorities to improve the situation between now and March.  

And it will only work if other Member States do their part in picking up the pace of relocation and deploying national experts. 

Both Greece and Italy need more experts, particularly for EASO but also the European Border and Coast Guard. Without them nothing can be accelerated, and I call on Member States to deliver on this urgently.

I will repeat this call tomorrow in the Home Affairs Council. 

As of yesterday, the rapid reaction pool of border guards and equipment is ready and operational to assist, at all times, any Member State that suddenly experiences extreme pressure at its external border.

All this is, of course, also closely linked with our objective to return to a normal functioning of the Schengen area as soon as possible.

Finally, enhancing security in a world of mobility is key - and this brings me to the last of the proposals we are adopting today. 

This is why today we further strengthen the European response to travel document fraud. False passports, identity cards and other travel documents have been used and abused both in the context of the refugee crisis and the recent terrorist attacks in Europe.

We want to improve the practical and actual security features of travel documents. This is why we present operational recommendations for Member States that we will help them deliver.

It is important that the security of documents, both their security features, but also how documents are registered and checked, is improved. 

Finally, I very much welcome the agreement found today between the European Parliament and the Council on the visa suspension mechanism. I call on both institutions to also conclude and adopt visa liberalisation for Georgia and Ukraine now.

Ladies and gentlemen, as I told you, from the first moment I presented the EU Agendas on Migration and Security, we have been implementing a comprehensive approach that protects our citizens, people in need of protection, and makes sure that the freedom of movement in the Schengen area will be totally restored by jointly managing our external borders.

We are committed to achieving significant progress on all these elements.

SPEECH/16/4326