According to Jerome Vignonhis expert Jacques Delors Institutequestion about immigration back to the top of the EU agenda.
This, in his opinion, occurs for three reasons:
• Firstlybecause the war in Ukraine continues and a new influx of Ukrainian refugees into the EU is expected. One year after the Russian invasion, the number of refugees arriving in Europe from Ukraine stands at nearly 8 million, according to the UN, and that number is expected to rise.
The flow of illegal refugees is increasing, while Frontex counted about 330,000 illegal arrivals in the EU. in 2022.
• Secondly, because in many countries there are disputes about legal immigration and a solution to the problem of labor shortages. The Commission has already begun discussions on the adoption of similar legislation, since, according to experts, the jobs that will be created by 2030 will create a need for additional workers from the approximately three million immigrants who annually arrive (legally or illegally) in Europe.
• thirdbecause the Franco-Italian conflict over the Ocean Viking last November highlighted the need for progress. At the time, Meloni’s far-right government refused to dock in Italy, a French NGO SOS Mediterranee ship carrying 230 rescued migrants, including a three-year-old child, after the prime minister’s decision to completely close the country’s ports to immigrants.
He also notes that the flow of illegal arrivals is increasing, especially along the route through the Western Balkans, and that Frontex has counted about 330,000 illegal arrivals in the EU. in 2022. According to the French newspaper Les Echos, of the approximately 340,000 repatriation decisions made in 2021 in the EU, only 21% were actually implemented, according to Eurostat data. Currently 27 EU countries. they failed to agree on the Commission’s proposed (in 2020) common deal on migration and asylum.
OUR Summit It is expected that the meeting of heads of state and government on February 8-9, according to the newspaper, will give a significant impetus to this issue.
Source: Kathimerini
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