European Commission
Malmström

Yesterday was a long and exciting day in Stockholm. A little bit late from the flight, I arrived to a seminar about organised crime, cooperation across borders and the Commission’s proposal on confiscation of criminal assets which will be presented soon. Global organised crime is a gigantic illegal enterprise encompassing vast amounts of money. In a UN report, the global drug trade alone is estimated to generate 321,6 billion dollars. Aside from fighting crime through law enforcement and preventative measures, we must also become better at going after the money, and retrieving criminals’ illegally aquired assets to taxpayers and victims. At the seminar, I discussed these matters with writer and journalist Lasse Wierup and Hans Ihrman from the Swedish Prosecution Authority. We could have spoken for hours, and in the audience were representatives from the police, prosecutors and many other knowledgeable people that I would have liked to continue the discussion with.

During the day I also had time to sit down for interviews with Sveriges Radio and a TV4 News, and speak to Minister for Justice Beatrice Ask about Schengen and cybercrime issues.

Today, I participated in a seminar in Brussels organised by the Swedish representation to the EU and the US mission, focusing on integration and anti-discrimination. William Kennard, the US ambassador to the EU, Swedish Minister for Integration Erik Ullenhag and myself had a very interesting discussion lead by Pat Cox, former speaker of the European Parliament. The US mission has published a short summary and photos on Facebook.

This afternoon I have also celebrated my cabinet’s two-year anniversary with semlor that I brought with me from Stockholm this morning. It’s important to spread the light of the semla in Brussels.

Enthusiastic about the privately imported semlor.

Today we received the news from Athens that former Vice President at the European Central Bank, Lucas Papademos, will form the new interim government in Greece. News that is welcomed – hopefully this will create some calm and stability. Both the EU and the International Monetary Fund have been very clear that no money will be paid to Greece until there is a government that supports the necessary reforms. Now we are also waiting to hear about who the new Prime Minister of Italy will be – and of course who will form the government of Belgium.

It’s been a hectic day today. I began the morning by talking at the European Integration Forum, an annual event organized by the Commission together with the Economic and Social Committee. The conference brings together representatives from Member States, government agencies, municipalities and organizations. The focus for this year’s Forum was on the role of the country of origin in successful integration and about circular migration. Then I rushed to a round table discussion which focused on borders and border control, followed by a meeting with a delegation of senators from the French Senate. We had a long discussion on asylum, migration and above all on Schengen. From the French quarter, there has been some criticism of the Schengen proposal I presented in September. The French think we go too far in suggesting that the decision to reintroduce borders should be taken at the European level. But it was a useful and constructive discussion.

Before lunch I also had a meeting with Alexander Bastrykin, who is chairman of Russia’s Investigation Committee. The Committee is tasked with investigating serious crime, and will report directly to the President. I raised the EU’s concern about the Magnitsky-cases and the murder of Natalia Estemirova, which the Committee is looking into.

The last formal meeting was with Torbjorn Jagland, Secretary General of the Council of Europe. We tend to meet regularly to discuss issues of common interest, but as we haven’t seen each other for a while, the lion’s share of the conversation revolved around the horrible events in Norway this summer.

When the winners of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize were announced today, we were all given a proper shot of inspiration. The work of these three women towards change, peace and democracy have sent sparks into the struggle for human rights all over the world. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf och Leymah Gbowee have played key parts in the peace and reconciliation process in war-torn Liberia. And Tawakkul Karman is a driving force and role model in the Arab Spring, which has brought about so much positive change over the course of this year.  Truly well-deserving prizewinners.

This morning, I was invited to speak at a national council on integration in Stockholm, Sweden. Minister for integration Erik Ullenhag had invited local policy makers, civil servants and members of civil society from around the country. I spoke about what is being done at the European level, about how the EU is creating meeting places for people working locally with integration issues to enable them to exchange views and knowledge. If you are interested, have a look at the EU integration portal which assembles over 500 projects from all over Europe.

At the Swedish national council on integration. Photo: Martina Huber/Swedish Government Offices

Today is the last Commission meeting before the summer. The biggest issue we discussed is the so called Basel III, which is a regulatory framework for Europe’s 8200 banks. This means regulation of a sector that so far has had too little regulation and it also shows that we have learned from the crisis. One of the most important measures has been to initiate a European Systemic Risk Board. We have had long discussions about this in the last weeks, but we have now agreed on a compromise that harmonises the rules but still leaves room for some flexibility. This issue, together with that of the situation in Greece, will be discussed during tomorrow’s extra summit between the Heads of State and Government of the countries in the Euro zone. The situation is of course very serious.

We also adopted my proposal on integration. Integration is a clear example of issues that should be dealt with on a local level – the Commission will never integrate migrants, but we can support Member States in creating opportunities for local actors and civil society to exchange knowledge and experiences on what works well. By doing that, we increase the possibilities for newly arrived people to learn the language of their new country, to get a job, go to school, and make sure that everyone’s experiences are counted for.

Approximately 20 million migrants from outside the EU live in our Member States today. They represent four percent of the total population of the EU. During these times of populist movements and xenophobic winds sweeping over Europe, it is worth to point out that immigrants contribute in a positive way to our societies – both economically and culturally. To mention an example, statistics show that 30 percent of Spain’s GDP growth in the last 15 years has been due to migrants settling in the country. And we know that we will not be able to sustain our way of living without increased migration. I wrote last week that migration to the OECD countries is decreasing. This is worrying, because already in 2013 or 2014 the working population of the EU will shrink due to the fact that our citizens get older. The EU workforce will decrease by 50 million people in the coming 50 years, and by 2020 there will be a shortage of about one to two million professionals in the health care sector. In spite of high unemployment in many countries, we need increased migration to the EU to be able to sustain our economic standards.

For all of this to work, we need successful integration. But honestly speaking the EU has not quite succeeded in integrating those who have moved here from other countries. There are clear differences between migrants and EU citizens when it comes to for instance the employment rate. 19 percent of so called third-country nationals were unemployed in 2009, while the percentage of unemployed EU citizens was 9 percent that same year. We must also get better at using the human capital available on the labour market today. 45 percent of third country nationals were overqualified in their current job in 2009, compared to 21 percent among EU nationals.

Today we also published a Eurobarometer on integration, which shows among other things that immigrants and EU citizens agree that language skills and having a job are among the most important factors for integration. It is clear that everyone gains from improving integration. But to get there, we must all contribute – both Member States’ governments, local actors, civil society, EU citizens, and immigrants.

2011-07-12 Today I took part in the presentation of the new OECD report on migration, together with OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría and my colleague Commissioner László Andor. The report shows that migration into OECD countries fell by about 7% between 2008 and 2009. The report also looks at the impact of the economic crisis on the management of labour migration and presents recent policy changes on family and humanitarian migration as well as on border controls. The OECD also states that there is a growing need for increased labour migration.

I share the conclusions of the OECD report that we need more labour migration and that we have seen policy developments in the migration area the last year which are affected by the economic downturn, for example both a more restrictive approach to labour migration and stricter policies for family reunification and humanitarian migration. We cannot ignore concerns of the general public as regards migration so it is very important that we contribute to an informed debate, building on facts and figures. And this report will add to this debate.

In order for individual and societies to benefit from migration, we need effective integration policies. And just like the Commission, the OECD has identified some main aspects of importance when it comes to supporting newly arrived migrants to give them a good start in their receiving countries which will facilitate their participation, including learning the local language and entering employment. The Commission will adopt shortly a Communication on integration, addressing the main integration challenges.

I also welcome the committee vote in the European Parliament today on the Qualifications Directive that will clarify legal criteria to define the grounds needed for protection. Today’s agreement brings us one step closer to our overarching goal of completing the Common European Asylum System by 2012. The European Parliament and the Council will now vote on the Directive but I am confident that the amended Directive will be swiftly adopted.

2011-05-05 The Communication on Migration was adopted by the Commission yesterday morning. The Communication gives a holistic approach on migration and it covers: borders, visa, integration, labour migration, Schengen etc. I held a press conference after the meeting, where the questions were almost exclusively about Schengen, which has been in focus the last few days due to the French-Italian events. 

Schengen, as an area without border controls, is a major achievement, which gives EU citizen the possibility to travel in Europe in a way that was not possible before. It has also a big and positive impact on the EU economy – for example export and import transports, that otherwise would be stuck in border controls for hours, move freely.

But this can only work if all Member states implement the rules in a coherent manner. It also requires that all Member States can control their external borders, especially when these are the external borders of the EU.

Now the Schengen states can be confronted with situations, for example massive inflow of migrants or refugees, where border management becomes particularly challenging. Or there can be situations when not all Member States are convinced that there is a coherent interpretation or implementation of the common rules. In this context, I don’t consider that 20 000 migrants from Tunisia is cause for a suspension of Schengen, but events have demonstrated areas where the current system can be improved.

The Commission takes the view that Schengen solidarity could be further reinforced by issuing guidelines to ensure a coherent implementation of the rules. Another measure is to establish a monitoring and evaluation mechanism that would ensure that Member States are fully implementing the rules. I presented a proposal about this already last year.

But even with assurances that Member States fulfil their obligations, future migration pressures on the external borders can not be excluded. We will therefore look at the possible introduction of a suspension mechanism under very strict conditions, monitored on a European level. Such a decision however should be a joint decision by Member States. In order to avoid that some Member States are influenced or under pressure of populist movements it is important that these extraordinary measure are well defined and that a decision is taken on the European level.

You can read the Communication in full here and you will find my speech from the press conference here.

When landing in Helsinki this morning it was -16º C, but the sun has been shining all day. I’ve visited an EU funded integration project, Monika, who supports migrant women in all stages of the integration process. They are specialised in helping women that have been victims of violence, honour related violence or trafficking.

I also met with Minister of Migration and European Affairs, Astrid Thors and the Minsiter of Justice Tuja Brax. We discussed the situation in Northern Africa, the common Asylum and migration policy but also talked about cybercrime and corruption.

Migration policy is one topic that is getting more and more attention in the upcoming elections in Finland this April. This was also the topic for the public seminar at the European Commission representation in Helsinki this afternoon where Astrid Thors and I answered questions.