Grande-Marlaska: "The time has come to be bold and generous to achieve a fair and balanced Migration and Asylum Pact"

Berlin (Germany)

"A new European legal framework that responds to the current phenomenon, based on responsibility and its equitable sharing, is an absolute necessity for the EU," he said.

The minister made these statements after the meeting held with the German Minister of the Interior, Nancy Faeser; the Italian Interior Secretary, Nicola Molteni; the French Interior Secretary, Sonia Backès; the Swedish Secretary for Migration, Anders Hall; and the Belgian Secretary for Asylum and Migration, Nicole de Moor.

The interior ministers agreed to hold a further meeting before the start of the Spanish presidency to continue making progress on specific aspects that will contribute to a future agreement on the pact.

The Spanish minister began his speech by thanking his German counterpart for having convened this mini-summit "to tackle such a key issue for the future of the EU as migration policy".

He also explained that he was appearing "in a dual capacity": as a member of the Government of Spain, "whose position on migration issues is well known", and "as a representative of the future Presidency of the Council of the EU, which Spain will assume on 1 July".

"From this dual perspective, I want to make one idea clear: completing the Pact on Migration and Asylum is a priority for the Government of Spain and for the future presidency. The time has come to be bold, to step forward, to be generous and to achieve consensus between different positions", said Grande-Marlaska.

Challenges for the coming decades

The minister reiterated a core idea in the government's policy on the matter and in its approach to negotiations with the other EU member states: "Migration is not a problem but a challenge for Europe that will persist over the coming decade, the importance of which we must be fully aware".

In recent months, Grande-Marlaska has increased his contacts and meetings to address this final stretch in the negotiations for the migration pact within the EU, making trips to different European capitals as part of the preparatory visits for the EU presidency, and holding monographic meetings such as the one held by the MED5 group, made up of Italy, Greece, Spain, Cyprus and Malta, in Valletta on 3 and 4 March.

"The migration phenomenon is a challenge that is here to stay. And I firmly believe that the Europe we leave to future generations will depend to a large extent on our response to this challenge now. It is up to us to ensure that the founding values of the EU - solidarity, equal sharing of responsibility, freedom and social cohesion - endure over time", the Spanish minister concluded in Berlin.

Non official translation