The President of the European Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen, took advantage of the European Union State of the Union debate this Wednesday to speak out about the Ceuta crisis and address Spaniards and Ceutíes in particular. “The border of Ceuta is a European border. Because Ceuta is Spain. Ceuta is Europe. And Europe will be by your side,” assured the head of the Community Executive in the plenary session of the European Parliament held in Strasbourg (France), where she proposed the creation of a European response instrument to deal with mass irregular entries.
Von der Leyen insisted on the need for the 27 to implement the Migration Pact that tightens the external border and speeds up deportations, while also pointing to new measures to ensure the Union reacts urgently to potential future crises similar to Ceuta’s, although the German conservative avoided any reference to Morocco’s role in the irregular entry of nearly 80,000 people at the end of July.
Thus, the Community leader recalled that “after years of work, we finally have a common European framework,” which “assigns responsibilities to all and demands solidarity from everyone.” “Now it is necessary that it be fully implemented,” she demanded.
Von der Leyen pointed out that the 27 are “on the right track” and as an example cited a 55% reduction in irregular arrivals over the last two years and an additional 35% decrease this year. “This is a real advance,” she emphasized. However, she acknowledged that this summer’s events “show that our tools must evolve, especially to deal with emergency situations.” “Europe needs to have the means to protect its borders at all times, especially in scenarios where massive movements of people are provoked and used as a weapon,” she asserted to announce the proposal for “a new European emergency response framework.”
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In this regard, the German politician explained that this mechanism will only be activated under strictly defined criteria and “will allow limited flexibility” in time and clearly bounded compared to usual procedures.
“Europe’s message is clear: we will always respect our fundamental values and rights, but we will never give up protecting our borders. It is us, Europeans, who decide who enters our Union and under what circumstances, not traffickers or smuggling networks,” Von der Leyen concluded.
The Commission President also highlighted efforts to strengthen Frontex (the European Border and Coast Guard Agency), especially to speed up returns, and announced that European early warning systems will be improved in collaboration with third countries. She assured that the “capacity for detection and anticipation in the digital environment” will be guaranteed. Finally, she noted that the root causes of irregular migration will continue to be addressed. In this regard, she advocated “collaborating with our neighbors to boost investment and offer young people real prospects, so they are not forced to risk their lives: jobs, skills, training, and apprenticeship programs.” She announced a new “Mediterranean initiative” for youth employment and skills.
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