On behalf of the Presidency of the Council, Swedish Minister for EU Affairs Jessika Roswall noted that in next week’s extraordinary European Council, EU leaders will look into migration issues, as well as the situation in Ukraine, the economic agenda and a European industrial plan. On migration, the focus will be on controlling external borders, cooperation with third countries and returning migrants and asylum-seekers without a right to stay in the EU more efficiently to their countries of origin or transit. The European Council is also expected to call for the legislative work on the pact for asylum and migration to continue. Minister Roswall assured MEPs that negotiations in the Council on the pact are progressing at a good pace.

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stressed that migration is a European challenge that requires a European response. In her view, legislative work should continue with a view to concluding the pact by spring 2024, whilst developing additional actions to bolster the external borders and ensure faster and dignified returns of migrants to their countries of origin or transit. Improving voluntary solidarity, addressing the root causes of migration from third countries and introducing safe and legal pathways into Europe should also be EU priorities, President von der Leyen stated.

In the subsequent debate, MEPs wished to see results in the field of migration and asylum policy, after years of discussions among member states in the…