‘You can only manage migration together!’
Interview with Ylva Johansson, EU Commissioner for Security and Migration
By Gaston Moonen
One of the eight priorities the von der Leyen Commission presented in 2019 concerned ‘Promoting our European way of life’, with as key component migration and asylum. Within the Commission College Ylva Johansson is responsible for this policy area and she took it up with vigour: in September 2020 she proposed a new Pact on Migration and Asylum, presenting a whole set of regulations and policies to create a fairer and more sustainable migration and asylum process for the EU as a whole. With the Pact she aims to manage and normalise migration for the long term, providing certainty, clarity and decent conditions for people arriving in the EU. Below she explains her efforts and approach to arrive at a common EU approach, based on solidarity, responsibility, and respect for human rights, to be adopted within this Commission’s mandate.
A portfolio that is indisputably European
Ylva Johansson has been an EU Commissioner since 2019, and as her mission letter states, she is responsible for two pillars: internal security and migration. This is no small task, as she explains: ‘Yes, I am responsible for the fight against organised crime, the fight against sexual abuse against children, the fight against terrorism, I am responsible for policy cooperation, for the fight against corruption, for everything that is related to borders, both the protection of our external borders, and the functioning of the internal borders in the Schengen area. And in terms of migration I am responsible for both legal migration and asylum. I am also responsible for five agencies, including the biggest one ever — Frontex. But also for Europol, which is also quite sizeable and very important. And likewise for the EU Agency for Asylum.’
She describes with great enthusiasm how she did not have to think twice when she was invited for this portfolio. ‘What I like about it is that — and this is also the reason why I wanted this portfolio — I have never heard any voice saying that these issues would be better solved at national level. So from the content it is already clear to everybody that we should deal with these issues on a European level. ’ She adds that very few people think that the fight against organised crime, terrorism, protection of borders, or migration, would be better managed at national level. ‘So, I have encountered very little resistance, but instead great acceptance that these are EU issues.’
Ylva Johansson highlights two major dimensions of migration, the first is legal, and the other, irregular. Legal migration addresses an important demographic need for many member states, which is the need for people to contribute to EU society. ‘The two dimensions go hand in hand with each other. We need to prevent irregular arrivals but on the other hand invest in better legal pathways to the EU . Because the majority of people entering the EU irregularly are not in need of international protection. They are searching for better economic opportunities. And it is important that we invest in better opportunities for them.’
She explains that she presented a package on legal migration in spring 2022. ‘And I will come with new proposals this year on a talent pool. We are also working on the Talent Partnership pilot project with partner countries. We need to see this in a broader context. Legal migration to the EU is about 3 million people per year, which is quite a lot. Approximately half of them come for labour purposes and half of them for other reasons. The number of people that leave the EU is about 1 to 1.5 million per year.’ So the EU is growing by 1 to 1.5 million people per year. ‘And we need that. Most of the legal migration, especially labour migration, is a national competence. Which I don’t want to change. But I see the need for more cooperation in this area because the labour market areas where the needs are big are more or less the same in different member states.’
She mentions the care sector, including healthcare, as an example. ‘There is a huge need for a greater work force, so I think it could be a win-win situation if we could find a platform for more cooperation. Not in terms of changing the competence of decision-making, I am totally fine with member states deciding on how many people to have. But member states could really benefit from more cooperation, such as by creating common platforms, because then we can better work together with third countries and prepare, such as through “upskilling”, enabling training in the partner country itself.’ She is aware of possible differences in the necessary qualifications between different member states.
Ylva Johansson thinks it is important to bring more information to non-EU countries on what kind of labour skills are needed in the EU in order to stimulate legal migration and avoid irregular migration. She refers to a recent experience she had when she visited Bangladesh. ‘There for example, we financed migration information hubs locally, where people can get information on how to come legally to the EU. This is a good idea which we should develop further. And clearly something not for each member state to do alone, but jointly, benefitting all much better with less effort. Because it is clear that demographic developments are not going to go away. We are going to get older and older in Europe.’
Lessons learned — rebuilding trust
When discussing and comparing the 2015/2016 migration crisis with the 2022 migrant flows resulting from the war in Ukraine, Ylva Johansson does not have to think for long. ‘We are doing much better now. We are much better prepared — we also have agencies in place that are different to what we had earlier.’ Another key issue that has improved relates to something less tangible. ‘We have also learnt the lessons needed to build trust. Because the failure to properly handle the 2015/2016 crisis in the EU also cost us a lot. Because that left us in a situation where member states were totally divided . And that had a huge cost because you can only manage migration together.’ She emphasises that since she took office her main priority for migration has been rebuilding trust. ‘To be able to work together. That is why we are now close to actually achieving the conclusion of the Pact on Migration and Asylum. Of course, fingers crossed, negotiations are still ongoing. But it is possible.’
In her opinion, trust was also the main reason why she managed to get a unanimous decision from the Council in March 2022 to activate the Temporary Protection Directive. ‘For the first time ever. It had been in place for 20 years but had never been used.’ She feels that this directive should have been activated in 2015, which did not happen. ‘Perhaps there was not enough trust to do so. But now there was! If a few years ago anybody had said “on top of the challenges you already have in terms of migration, could you manage another four million refugees?” people would have had big question marks. But we managed, with challenges, but we did manage.’ In her opinion this shows the EU was so much better prepared. ‘But yet not well prepared enough because we also need the new legislation in place. But still, we are much better prepared.’
For the Commissioner it is clear that the various reports the ECA has published on the issues of asylum and migration have helped her and her staff be better prepared, also in terms of managing refugees following the start of the war in Ukraine. ‘The ECA report that was produced just before I took office, on asylum, relocation and return (1), that was really helpful for me to reform how we finance emergency assistance. That report stimulated reforms enabling us to better handle the 2022 situation. This was a direct consequence of some ECA reports, also relating to emergency assistance. When discussing what she would like to see covered by future ECA reports, she mentions an issue which she feels is often discussed in the Council of Ministers. ‘It relates to the risk of our EU funds being used to facilitate radicalisation or even terrorist financing. Of course, our money should not go there, and we have various procedures to prevent this. But I think it would be very interesting to see how well this actually works because many organisations are involved that benefit from EU funds.’ She is aware of a special report the ECA produced on this some years ago (2), but considers it an issue which needs regular attention regarding the actual outcome of the regulations and procedures in place.
Another key difference she identifies is that, in 2015, the EU only started responding once the Syrian refugees started entering EU territory. ‘But the war started in 2011. So it is important not to wait until you have a refugee crisis. You have to act much earlier, to reach out also to partner countries, to support others, along the routes. This is also a new approach that we are having.’ She refers to the way the EU dealt with the government change in Afghanistan when the Taliban took over about two years ago. ‘Various people started to think how to act on our border. But I said: “No, they are not at our borders now, they are in Afghanistan, and they need help.” So together, with all 27 member states, we thought out these massive humanitarian corridors to Afghanistan to give them shelter. It is really important not to wait until we have people in distress at our borders, but to act much earlier .’
For Ylva Johansson, another important difference is that the EU can work together with the Ukrainian government and authorities in terms of the refugees from Ukraine. ‘Let’s face it: it is very seldom the case that you can have such close cooperation, which helped a lot, dealing with this crisis together with the Ukrainian government. Usually, you cannot do that when people are fleeing their country.’
Preventing irregular departures
Discussing building relationships with partner countries outside the EU also brings up agreements with non-EU countries that also cover migration. Ylva Johansson stresses that the partnership with Tunisia is based on a lot more than just migration. ‘That partnership with Tunisia is not simply “you have this partnership and you stop migration.” It relates to five pillars in relation to Tunisia — on climate, green transition, on energy, on other things. And one of those is migration.’
Regarding this issue, the EU sends support to Tunisia in order to prevent departures. ‘Because actually many people are sent to their deaths. They are risking and also losing their lives. So it is important that we prevent these dangerous departures.’ For Ylva Johansson, stopping irregular departures from third countries is the main way of preventing the tragedies that we regularly witness, such as shipwrecks, whose victims perish before they reach EU territory. ‘We have to prevent such departures in the first place. That is why we need to invest in legal pathways, safe ways, to arrive in the EU, both for refugees and for economic migrants.’ She adds that it is clear to her that it will not be possible to completely stop such departures, but legal solutions and cooperation with partner countries to prevent people entering these dangerous vessels is essential.
‘Another element in the partnership is that Tunisia promised to take back their own citizens more swiftly — those who are not eligible to stay in the EU.’ Other aspects of the partnership relate to procedures for legal migration., but also increasing EU support for the voluntary return of third-country nationals from Tunisia to their country of origin. ‘This is already ongoing, we do it together with the UN. But we see more people now that would like to get that support, and we will act on this.’
Ylva Johansson moves on to the Commission’s Search and Rescue instrument, which she stresses that is first and foremost in the competence of member states. ‘They decide when there is a boat in need of rescue. What we can do — and have done — is setting up and working through a rescue coordinating group. They meet regularly with the member states that are particularly affected.’ She also points to the support which Frontex provides with surveillance, for example, the tracking of boats in distress. ‘But setting out in these boats is not the proper way to get to the EU. The majority of people arriving in the EU as migrants and asylum seekers actually arrive by plane, with over three million arriving legally each year.’
Finalising the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum…and more
On 8 June the Council reached agreement on the new EU Pact on Migration and Asylum. Ylva Johansson and many other policymakers consider this a big achievement. ‘This is what the previous Commission did not manage to do — reach an agreement in the Council. And this relates to, as I started to say, to building trust, to rebuilding trust between member states on migration.’ It is clear to Ylva Johansson that these efforts have paid off, and she stresses that there was near unanimity on 8 June. ‘Only two member states voted against, which is pretty unique.’ She believes that the Council’s position in the agreement is not far removed from her 2020 proposal, and neither is the position of Parliament. ‘They are on different sides of my proposal, that you can say. But it is absolutely possible to find an agreement in the trialogue. And we started the trialogue the week after the Council agreement. Actually, trialogues, because we are talking about two proposals.’
She is optimistic about the progress of these discussions between Parliament, the Council and the Commission, which continued in September. ‘The Pact contains 11 legislative files, and currently five of them are already closed.’ She is very much aware of time pressure in terms of the adoption of the Pact. ‘Of course, it is going to be difficult. But it is absolutely possible . And I think the political will is there. Many member states realise that migration cannot be managed by one country alone, that we need to solve this together and every member state needs to understand what it is like to be in the other member states’ shoes. Every country faces challenges regarding migration, but the challenges can be different depending on the country’s location. But we can only properly address them together.’
For Ylva Johansson it is essential that the European Parliament and the Coucil finalise and adopt the Pact before breaking up for the elections in spring 2024. But there is another key topic she wants to address in her current mandate as EU Commissioner. It is a very different topic, but one she considers to be just as important, if not more so. It relates to her security portfolio on the sexual abuse of children. ‘We need a regulation that allows us to continue to detect these hideous crimes which are ongoing and shared online involving the sexual abuse of children. Last year a company specialised in detecting these crimes reported 5.2 million pictures, videos, abduction attempts, half of them involving very small children who were victims of sexual abuse and severe sexual violence. And this crime also occurs in the child’s immediate surroundings — the family or somebody very close to the child.’ She explains that it is difficult to rescue the children who are victims of such crimes. ‘And the perpetrators send all this to other paedophiles online, they share it in private communications with others. With companies detecting and reporting it to us, the police can start an investigation and rescue the children.’
As EU Commissioner, Ylva Johansson has proposed new legislation which she believes is absolutely essential. ‘If the legislation I proposed is not adopted during this mandate, then all the detection of child pornography that occurs today will be forbidden. And that means if my legislation is not adopted, then all these children will be left alone without the possibility, or only a limited possibility, of being rescued. And this issue is something that is very close to my heart and extremely important. This has to be done at EU level because the regulation for monitoring this environment is an EU regulation. So amendments have to be done at EU level.’ She emphasises that a lot of effort has gone into this issue. She refers to a recent report by the Internet Watch Foundation, which found that offences in category A, the worst category of child sexual abuse, has increased in three years from 10 % to 20 %. ‘If you consider pictures and videos that relate to small children between zero and two years old, it is horrendous. 81 % of category A relates to sexual violence.’ With a sigh, she concludes that this issue is her priority. ‘One child out of five is a victim of sexual violence.’
And my second key issue is concluding the new Pact on Migration and Asylum. Both issues need to be adopted before the European Parliament breaks up next year for elections. We will be very busy with the negotiations to conclude on both topics. I am hopeful we will manage!’
(1) Special report 24/2019 Asylum, relocation and return of migrants: Time to step up action to address disparities between objectives and results.
(2) Special report 13/2018 Tackling radicalisation that leads to terrorism: the Commission addressed the needs of Member States, but with some shortfalls in coordination and evaluation.
This article was first published on the 2/2023 issue of the ECA Journal. The contents of the interviews and the articles are the sole responsibility of the interviewees and authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the European Court of Auditors.
