Commissioner-designate Mr Avramopoulos: for legal & safe migration, against Fortress Europe
Ahead of the European Parliaments hearing of Mr Dimitris Avramopoulos, Commissioner-designate for Home Affairs we proposed to MEPs to ask the following question:
How will you ensure that migrants’ employment, education and social inclusion is explicitly targeted and improved throughout the Europe 2020 Strategy, including the National Reform Programme, the National Social Reports and Country Specific Recommendations?
Our question was not directly asked, considering it was not migration specific question but generally about mainstreaming of migration integration into other policy areas. Mr Avramopoulos did though throughout the hearing make several references to his commitment to the Charter of Fundamental Rights and that it would be the guiding principles of his work.
His key points were:
- A vision of ‘a Europe that grows without fear and guarantees fundamental rights’; He answered to MEPs question by saying that ‘we should not be scared of xenophobes and racists’ and that member states can promote migration integration by promoting fundamental values.
- A commitment to create legal and safe routes to Europe; He explained that this would be the way to combat irregular migration and save lives. Further, he emphasised that the EU can only be credible by tackling ‘irregular migration in full respect of human rights’
- A clear stand against ‘Fortress Europe’; A remark he reassured the Parliament about several times; ‘Fortress Europe’ is never the solution to external threats and fears.
While his intention is good, it remains to be seen if he will live up to the commitment to fundamental rights as he conveyed to the Parliament.
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