Malta will take all necessary action to protect its national interest if the EU does not move by December, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat warned this afternoon.

Addressing a news conference following the EU summit which ended today, and in which the EU pledged to come up with concrete measures by the December summit, Dr Muscat said the council accepted to come up with “operational programmes” by the December council following pressure by a number of member states, including Malta.

The programmes will be aimed  to help member states, such as Malta, share the burden and cope with irregular migration.

“We have managed to get a cut off date...

“I warned that if no concrete action is taken by December we will not have any other option but to take the necessary measures to safeguard Malta’s interests.”

Asked to state whether Malta will consider declaring the country "not a safe port" if no EU action was taken, Dr Muscat said “Malta will take the necessary measures”.

Dr Muscat said Malta will now hold the EU to task and will wait to see what happens in the next 60 days.

Addressing another news conference, European Council chairman Herman Van Rompuy said the newly established task force for the Mediterranean was being tasked by the European Council to quickly come up with concrete operational proposals for  more efficient use of European policies and tools with regards to irregular migration.

"The EU will return to asylum and migration in December precisely with operational conclusions."

Mr Van Rompuy said: "next June, we will have a longer-term reflection on these policies, during our wider strategic debate on upcoming legislative and operational work in the field of freedom, security and justice.”

He said the EU’s action will be guided by the principles of prevention, protection, and solidarity.

“We want to continue to address the root causes of illegal migration flows – working with countries of origin and transit. This includes EU development support and a wider political dialogue with third countries. We want to step up the fight against trafficking and smuggling of human beings – on our own territories and in countries of origin and transit.”

“In these preventive efforts we will cooperate with the relevant international organisations, in particular the UNHCR and the International Organisation for Migration,” he said

He called for the swift implementation by member states fof the new European border surveillance system Eurosur, which he said would detect vessels and protect and save lives.”

Prior to the summit, Dr Muscat had repeatedly warned that unless agreement on effective measures on migration was reached, he may, in future, not be prepared to agree on other issues.

The council's conclusions can be read here.

Council conclusions 'a step backwards' - PN

In a statement this afternoon, the Nationalist Party said that, as expected, the Prime Minister came out of the summit without any concrete solutions to the irregular migration challenge.

This was in spite of having repeatedly declared he would not get out of the council without such solutions. The Prime Minister was now, once again, playing for time saying that another meeting was being held in December.

The PN said that the council conclusions did not add anything to what had already been said in previous council meetings and in past years. They were rather a step backwards because they did not specifically refer to Malta's situation.

The conclusions did not even mention relocation of immigrants from Malta to other EU countries.

All this, the PN said, showed that no stamping of feet would lead to any concrete solution and it was only through persuasion and reason that Malta can convince other EU states to take concrete action on irregular migration.

Amnesty alarmed at lack of action to save lives

Amnesty International said it was deeply alarmed that leaders have failed to take concrete action to protect the lives of migrants and refugees along Europe’s borders.

“The Council conclusions on migration painfully show that the expressions of sadness and solidarity were nothing more than crocodile tears,” Nicolas Beger, director of Amnesty International’s European Institutions Office said.

“Europe’s priority clearly is not to save lives or to protect people along the borders. Instead it is to prevent people from arriving in Europe at all costs, even if those people are in need of safety and protection.”

Amnesty said that not one single measure mentioned in the Council conclusions would prevent further loss of life in the Mediterranean Sea. Search and rescue capacity was not even mentioned; neither was the need to open safe routes for refugees to Europe addressed. Instead, the proposed measures focused yet again on enhanced border surveillance. This would simply lead to people taking riskier routes to reach Europe, it said.

It also noted that the conclusions made no mention of the need for European states to prioritise people’s lives and rights when cooperating on migration control with countries on the other side of the Mediterranean.

“Europe must stop turning a blind eye to the serious human rights violations of migrants and refugees in these countries…

“The European Council says that concrete actions will follow later. But the time to act is now. Until then, if leaders do not take responsibility to fundamentally change Europe’s migration policy, more men, women and children will continue to die in the Mediterranean Sea,” it said.

PN leader on the wrong side of history - PL

In another statement, the Labour Party said PN leader Simon Busuttil was once again on the wrong side of history and after many years of PN Government failures could still not understand that Malta had finally brought the issue up for debate.

The Government also managed to obtain a timeframe within which concrete solutions had to be discussed. Although a lot still needed to be done, matter appeared positive and the Labour Party was convinced that a solution would be found.

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