European Commission
Malmström

On the agenda for today’s Commission meeting was the strategy for the UN Conference on Sustainable Development to be held in Brazil this summer, known as the Rio + 20 summit. It has been some time since we had a proper discussion on sustainable development in this constellation. Week after week the focus has rather been on the economic crisis, and although we are some Commissioners who are constantly trying to point out that green growth and sustainability is important to actually emerge stronger from the crisis, these issues tend to be sidelined. So it was good to have a proper discussion today.

As of last year, we are now 7 billion people on this earth and this figure will only increase. We must therefore use our natural resources more sustainably and for this reason it is also important that countries at the meeting in Rio can make some progress on this issue. We discussed the goals that the EU should prioritize our key allies and the need for a close dialogue with the industry on these issues.

Early this morning I also met with the Jordanian Foreign Minister. Jordan is a country which in recent years increasingly is seeking a closer cooperation with the EU. The country has not undergone a revolution, but the government is aiming to implement important reforms and changes. Last week there was a high-level meeting between the EU and Jordan, led by Cathie Ashton. One of the issues discussed was the visa requirements and we are investigating the feasibility of opening negotiations with Jordan, just as we do with Tunisia, a so-called mobility partnership, where we expand our cooperation in the fields of asylum, security, trafficking, visa, labour migration, etc. We decided to send a delegation of officials from my DG to Amman within a few weeks to continue discussions on a more technical level.

This weekend we finally got the news we have been waiting for: Berlusconi has resigned and President Girgio Napolitano has appointed Mario Monti as the new Prime Minister. Monti has been an EU Commissioner and he is a highly respected economist, with great integrity. It is not an easy task that he has taken on – especially given that there were not many reforms during Berlusconi’s time. Both Monti and Papademos have clear mandates and expectations are high that they will get their countries back on track without delay. Of course it is not ideal that democratic countries are run by technocrats and not elected politicians.  But at the same time the situation is serious, and elections are also planned for.

In Brussels today I have had many internal meetings. I also met with the Foreign Minister from Moldova, Iurie Leanca, and later today I will meet with the Czech Minister for Foreign Affairs, Karel Schwarzenberg.  I will discuss visa issues with both – the state of play of negotiations on the Moldovan action plan for visa liberalisation, and the visa obligation that Canada imposed on the Czech Republic almost two years ago. Asylum seekers from the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia today make up the majority of asylum seekers in Canada – and all are Roma people. This is not an acceptable state of affairs in the European Union.  The situation for the Roma people must improve drastically. Also, the visa obligation is a huge obstacle for students, business people, tourists and others, making it even more necessary that we find a solution.

More than 13 million visas are issued every year to people wishing to visit EU countries. Applying for a visa can be a very time-consuming and cumbersome process. In part, this stems from the fact that the present system cannot handle such large quantities of applications, and because visa handling routines are based on an outdated system of stamps. The EU has, for a number of years, worked on modernising the system for visa applications (VIS), and today, the new system was finally introduced for travellers from Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Mauretania, Morocco and Tunisia.

From now on, citizens of these countries will benefit from a more effective system with clearer rules for visa applications. By using fingerprints and a digital facial image, applications can be handled faster. Also, information on short-term visas can more easily be exchanged between Schengen countries, to the benefit of those travelling within the Schengen area.

Today, a ministerial meeting was held with the Russian Minister of Justice, Alexander Konovalov, and the deputy minister for home affairs, Sergey Bulavin. These are fairly well-rehearsed events where most of the content has been pre-cooked by our negotiators. The major issue at stake is visa negotiations, where, for quite some time, we have tried to agree on the “steps to take” needed from the Russian side in order for real negotiations to begin on abolishing visas. As this is a complicated issue, member states have different views on the matter. Today, however, we managed to agree around a preliminary list of steps, and hopefully the last knots can be untangled at the summit between Barroso and Medvedev.

We also discussed cooperation in the fight against corruption, organised crime, smuggling of narcotics and trafficking in human beings, among other things. I also raised the unsolved murder of Natalia Estremirova and the Magnitsky case for discussion. Apart from the Polish Presidency, Denmark’s newly appointed Minister of Justice Morten Bødskov was also present at the meeting – it was good to get a chance to talk to him.

And it is with great worry that I have received news about the verdict against the former Prime Minister of Ukraine, Yulia Tymoshenko. The trial against her has been neither fair nor transparent, and the entire process indicates a highly worrisome development in the country.

Press conference with Poland's Minister for Home Affairs, Jerzy Miller. Photo: European Commission

Today, I met with the Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Andriy Kluyev who was visiting Brussels. We discussed their work with the reforms necessary to proceed with visa liberalization vis-á-vis the EU. The first report of the Commission has just been released and it confirms much progress, but also demonstrates that a lot more needs to be done, especially when it comes to the treatment of asylum seekers and the fight against corruption. Later during the day, I also met a group of young people from all over Europe, who are in Brussels for a leadership training exercise. I have also had discussions with the Polish Minister of Justice Mr Miller in preparation for the Council meeting tomorrow. It will be a long and eventful meeting. Topics to be addressed include the proposed entry into Schengen by Bulgaria and Romania, which is still blocked by two member countries. We will also discuss my proposals for reform of the entire Schengen system and it will doubtlessly be a lively debate. Combating radicalization and the fight against extremism (for this discussion we’ve invited our Norwegian friends to join), integration, asylum and more will also be discussed during the Council tomorrow.

I also had a long meeting with Human Rights Watch who has published a highly critical report on the asylum system in Greece. They believe that the presence of the EU’s Frontex agency legitimizes the poor conditions at the border of Greece.  We are fully aware of the unacceptable detention conditions for migrants, which have been well-documented, and I am frustrated with the slow pace of improvements regarding detention conditions, especially in Evros. However, the situation would probably be even worse if Frontex would not be present. The Commission continues to place pressure on Greece to provide immediate short-term solutions to remedy the worst of the conditions. The new regulatory framework for Frontex, which I’ve proposed and which was adopted by Parliament last week, will substantially strengthen the Human Rights aspects of their work. The report will also be discussed at the Frontex Agency board meeting next week.

2011-07-05 This is the last plenary session in Strasbourg before the summer. I have had debates on PNR and the new IT-agency under my portfolio that will be in charge of the Schengen and visa data systems, SIS and VIS. I also spoke on behalf of the Commission on other issues yesterday evening, which resulted in six additional debates that lasted till midnight.

Today I have had several bilateral meetings with Members of Parliament and I also met with Helle Thorning-Schmidt, the opposition leader in Denmark. We are old friends and know each other from the European Parliament. We discussed, amongst many other issues, the deployment of additional custom officers in Denmark. We  are in almost daily contact with Denmark and they have assured that there will only be spot checks based on risk analysis. We will of course closely monitor the implementation of this to ensure that this is also the case and a correct application of EU law.

2011-06-17 I came back from Kiev late last night, where I attended the annual meeting with the Minister for Justice and the Minister for Interior of Ukraine. We discussed corruption, migration, human rights and visa regulation liberalisation. There is an action plan on visa liberalisation between Ukraine and the EU, but in order to achieve visa liberalisation, Ukraine still needs to take an array of measures. The government has taken ambitious steps when it comes to new legislation but it is very important that they are in line with European standards and implemented in a proper manner. I also met with the President Yanukovych, the First Vice Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister. Except for politics we also had a short discussion on the preparations for the European Football Championship that will be hosted by Ukraine and Poland next year.

2011-05-24 This busy day started with a meeting with the College of Commissioners where we adopted three documents within my area: migration.

The first document is an amendment to the EU regulations on visa. We need to make it easer for people to come to the EU through further visa liberalisation. It is a fantastic opportunity to be able to travel and visit relatives and friends in the EU without having to stand in line for several hours in order to get a visa. At the same time, we must make sure that our visa liberalisation agreements are not being abused. To that end I proposed today to introduce a safeguard clause for exceptional and very strict circumstances. I hope that this will never be used, but we need a mechanism like this to adapt to the current circumstances. Hopefully this will also help increasing the Member States’ confidence and politcal will to introduce more visa liberalisation agreements in the future.

The second document adopted today is a Communication on dialogues with the Southern Mediterranean countries. The events in North Africa are fantastic and there is a historical momentum right now to assist these countries in their democratic development. The Commission has initiated dialogues with Egypt and Tunisia about migration, mobility and security. Morocco is also ready to initiate a dialogue and I hope that more countries will follow. Hand in hand with this Communication the Commission will tomorrow present the revised European Neighbourhood Policy. The policy of today was developed in 2004 and a lot has happened since. The third document presented today is the Annual Migration Report which you can find here. I also gave a brief press conference about these documents earlier today.

After the press conference I attended a seminar in the European Parliament together with ECPAT on sexual exploitation of children. Now I am going to another meeting and later today I will prepare for my visit to the Netherlands tomorrow.