Strengthening internal security and containing irregular migration

type:
News

, Date:
10 October 2024

Federal Minister Faeser stresses the importance of joint action by the EU member states to protect the Schengen area

Source:
European Union

Federal Minister Faeser greets her European counterparts at the JHA Council in Luxembourg. (Larger version opens in new window)



Source: European Union


Federal Minister Faeser greets her European counterparts at the JHA Council in Luxembourg.

Federal Minister of the Interior and Community Nancy Faeser is meeting her EU counterparts for a two-day session of the Justice and Home Affairs Council in Luxembourg. The meeting will focus on the border control measures being carried out in many of the EU member states within the Schengen area. Since September, Germany too has been conducting border checks at all of its borders.

quote:

“The new European Commission and the EU member states should concentrate on putting this new asylum system into practice as soon as possible.”

Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser

Closely coordinating control of the EU’s internal borders with our European neighbours

“We want to reduce irregular migration further, stop migrant smugglers and criminals, and detect Islamist extremists before they can do any harm,” Federal Minister Faeser said ahead of the meeting, adding that she would continue the intensive talks of the past weeks with her counterparts. She said it was necessary to closely coordinate border control measures with Germany’s neighbouring countries until the EU’s external borders were sufficiently protected.

Putting the Common European Asylum System into practice as quickly as possible

Federal Minister Faeser said: “We will soon present our draft legislation to be implemented in Germany. We are planning to apply the European law on asylum promptly, thoroughly and in exactly the same form that we achieved after years of very difficult negotiations.” The EU member states must implement the asylum reform by June 2026. Germany will implement the new law very quickly. Other large EU member states, including France, Italy and Spain, can imagine putting the new asylum system into operation before this deadline, according to Federal Minister Faeser. That would send “an unmistakable signal from Europe,” she said.

The Common European Asylum System: What it includes

Germany wants the new border procedures in particular to go into operation soon. These procedures will allow non-EU foreigners who have very little chance of being granted asylum in the EU to be turned back faster and directly at the EU’s external borders. In Germany, the new procedures are to be applied at airports. They will affect asylum seekers from countries whose citizens have a recognition rate for asylum of less than 20%.

Along with the border procedures, the new asylum system includes a solidarity mechanism for distributing people seeking protection in the EU. Countries that cannot or do not want to admit any refugees will then have to provide financial assistance.