MEPs on Tuesday urged EU leaders to work out a solution to the current impasse on migration and asylum and stress their readiness to start talks to reform existing rules.
Ahead of a crucial European Council, during which EU leaders will discuss how to best deal with the influx of migrants and asylum-seekers, MEPs underlined that Europe needed an effective Common European Asylum System (CEAS) that respected fundamental rights, paired with enhanced border controls and reinforced security.
Watch: Eight countries agree to take in migrants as Lifeline to be impounded
Parliament has already adopted their position on all of the legislative files related to the reform of the EU asylum policy and is ready to start talks with EU ministers.
Civil Liberties committee chairman Claude Moraes said it was key that the Council came up with comprehensive, humanitarian and effective solutions to migration.
The European Parliament did its work as co-legislator by putting forward its position on Dublin. With the reform of the CEAS the solution for an EU approach based on solidarity and shared responsibility was on the table and the council needed to act now - “and if it is not possible to take a decision by unanimity, it is time to decide by majority.
Read: ‘Seizing rescue ships means sentencing migrants to death’
“The cases of Aquarius and Lifeline showed us once more the importance of a decent and human EU approach and Council can no longer block the Dublin file, which is key to this”, Mr Moraes insisted.
He made clear that “we will not support unviable policy solutions such as off-shoring that put at risk human rights. This is a red line for the Parliament."
EP rapporteur for the reform of the Dublin Regulation Cecilia Wikström added that it was time for the Council to deliver and unite.
“The European Parliament has been ready to start negotiations on the Dublin regulation since November. I hope that EU governments during the summit are willing to set enough of their differences aside at this point to allow for negotiations between the Parliament and Council to begin”.
“We must find ways forward that allow for the creation of a functioning asylum system with adequate support for frontline states, shared responsibilities and correct management of our external borders. Without such negotiations, we stand empty handed with the current failed asylum system and no answers for citizens”, Ms Wikström concluded.