We have delivered...

During its last plenary sitting in this mandate, the European Parliament endorsed, at first reading, a set of five laws dealing with asylum, including changes to the Dublin regulation and the setting up of a legally binding burden-sharing mechanism enabling the reallocation of immigrants among EU countries.
The changes to the Dublin regulation and the introduction of the mandatory burden sharing mechanism, that I proposed along with other MEPs, were by far the most important for Malta. And they were met with overwhelming approval.

This means that the European Parliament has delivered. Five years ago no one knew anything about Malta's plight on immigration. Today the European Parliament is fully behind us.

This is not a coincidence. It is the result of hard work over a long period of time.

Malta had long called for a change in these rules and changes to the Dublin regulation were formally proposed by the European Commission last December. The Commission proposed to suspend the Dublin rules on EU countries, such as Malta, which face a disproportionate burden as a result of their geographic and demographic situation. This would mean that immigrants moving from Malta to other EU countries would no longer be transferred back here, thereby alleviating our burden significantly.

In its vote, the European Parliament endorsed this proposal.

Apart from agreeing to suspend Dublin rules, the European Parliament also resolved that it is essential to establish a legally binding instrument to ensure greater solidarity between Member States through the resettlement of the beneficiaries of international protection in other Member States.

I know that what we adopted is resisted by some EU countries in Council that are reluctant to share the burden because they feel that immigrants crossing the Mediterranean are not their problem. But it is their problem too and it is time for them to realise that they can no longer expect just a couple of countries to shoulder a responsibility that belongs to all. They can no longer express shock when immigrants are lost at sea but then turn a blind eye when it comes to hosting the immigrants who are saved.

I am very satisfied with this vote because it is the result of years of hard work. We have been there for Malta and we have delivered.