European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said on Thursday that the EU had to do a better job of tackling irregular migration as, seven months before the EU elections, it still continues to be a hot topic across the bloc, Euractiv reports.
EU countries are working to reform the joint asylum system in response to growing pressure to curb a surge in irregular migration, but in the past their attempts to agree on a new functional regime have been unsuccessful.
Those failures must be honestly acknowledged, Metsola said in Berlin, where she delivered the annual State of Europe speech of the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS), a think tank affiliated with the centre-right CDU (CDU), Germany’s largest opposition party. She claimed:
Migration is one area where we have seen too little progress in the last ten years.
MEPs are currently discussing with the Commission and EU governments the final shape of migration reform. The proposal on the table includes a more even distribution of incoming migrants among member states and asylum checks directly at the EU border.
Metsola expressed “cautious optimism” that the ongoing talks would “finally break the deadlock” on migration. She believes it is important to turn successful solutions into a positive image of the EU in order to revive interest in it. Metsola added:
We need more people to think about (…) how we can bring the EU closer to the people we represent; how we can make Europe less about bureaucracy and more about change.
Actively promoting EU issues has been one of Metsola’s key activities throughout her tenure. Her notable public appearances include a meeting with Hollywood actress Cate Blanchett in Parliament and a high-profile trip to Israel with Commission President Ursula von der Leyen following the Hamas terrorist attack.
The Maltese woman’s growing stature has sparked rumours that she could be a contender for top EU posts, including Commission President.
In Berlin, Metsola emphasised her personal ambitions by confidently addressing broader geopolitical topics such as the conflict between Israel and Hamas, repeating the EU parliament’s call for humanitarian pauses and ultimately a two-state solution. She also emphasised that the EU must give Ukraine, Moldova and the Western Balkans “a clear European perspective (…) if our path is to survive”.
