Maltese and Gozitan citizens, like so many people in other EU member states, have repeatedly expressed their concern about immigration and security issues, in particular about our external borders. Since our islands are on the southern border, these concerns are amply justified. 

Just before last Christmas I was tasked with drafting, negotiating and piloting a new European Border and Coast Guard law. 

This law would ensure, among other things, that we would have 10,000 new border guards and staff. No one thought we would have a final deal in the relatively short period between Christmas and Easter, but we delivered. 

It was not easy, but with the support and good will of the European Commission and the Council of the European Union, we have secured a new law to manage migration and secure our borders, a law that we can all be proud of, and that will allay many of our concerns. 

As one of your representatives in the European Parliament, it was even more pressing to get this done right and quickly. In preparing this European law, I wanted the thinking to move away from management by crisis. Papering over the cracks without taking the tough decisions necessary to deal with the issue long-term cannot be an option any longer. 

I want Europe to be the example to the world on this issue. 

We have always been very clear on our guiding principles – be fair with those in need of protection, firm with those who are not eligible for it, and harsh with those who seek to exploit vulnerable people, including women and children.

This new law means that, against all odds, we have now cleared the final hurdle to having a new force of 10,000 border guards and operational staff in place in the coming years. These are the numbers that we need to secure our European borders, boost the fight against cross-border crime, ensure the protection of fundamental rights, while also significantly helping to manage migration.

Securing our external borders and ensuring that member states fulfil their responsibilities is an absolutely critical piece of addressing the migration puzzle. It is not a stand-alone solution, but it is a necessary step that needs to taken, and complemented by other similar initiatives.   

Fears do exist among our citizens and it would be wrong to bury our heads in the sand and insist on an internally-borderless Europe, without strengthening the common external border. Maintaining the Schengen Zone is dependent on a strong and trustworthy external border. 

In the eventuality of crisis situations, nations responsible for the external borders, such as us, can request the deployment of a rapid intervention force to help deal with the situation. This new law, however, is not only about the new standing corps of 10,000 additional people.

Migration remains truly one of the greatest challenges of our generation

The safe return of those migrants who are not eligible for protection is an essential part of any approach to the effective management of migration.

This new law draws necessary distinctions between those arriving in Europe seeking work, and those fleeing war and famine. 

It provides Malta and other EU member states with the tools, flights and financing they need to effect those returns. This is particularly important for countries like ours, who may have neither the necessary resources available, nor the diplomatic representations in the relevant countries. 

Good news for Malta and Gozo indeed!

I am particularly proud that we have enshrined the concept of fundamental right monitors who will ensure that everyone’s rights are respected. We aim to set new, higher standards of protection that will codify our European values even on an issue as sensitive as this, because our EU must be one where we protect fundamental rights when it matters the most.

All of this is a big step forward, but it is not enough. In the short-term we still need better solidarity and responsibility sharing mechanisms. 

In the long-term we also have to delve deeper into the root causes and understand that greater commitment is needed to solve the geo-political issues of our time. 

We must address the reasons why people are forced to flee their countries, and do our best to help people find a future in their own countries, which is in reality what they would want themselves, were it not sometimes so dangerously harsh to do so.

Very often, these debates are allowed to degenerate into positions of easy populist stances, neglecting and abandoning sober reflection.

While migration remains truly one of the greatest challenges of our generation, it also gives us the opportunity to rise and address it in a way that gives us security without shame. 

We can and we should lead, and this law is the first step in that direction. 

Others will follow.

Roberta Metsola is a Nationalist Party MEP.

This is a Times of Malta print opinion piece