European Migration and Asylum strategy

Key points

The EESC:

• takes note of the first European Asylum and Migration Management Strategy and acknowledges its intention to provide a comprehensive framework for EU action over the next five years. However, it considers that the strategy reflects an imbalanced approach, prioritising control, containment and return over a genuinely comprehensive, rights-based migration policy;
• recommends that the European Commission rebalance the strategy by placing equal emphasis on regular migration pathways, integration and inclusion policies, and the protection of fundamental rights. Migration should be addressed as a structural, multifaceted phenomenon with social, economic and humanitarian dimensions, rather than primarily as a security challenge;
• calls for clear, accessible and diversified legal pathways to be established for migration to the EU, covering all skill levels and purposes, including labour migration, family reunification and humanitarian admission;
• urges the Commission and Member States to ensure that all migration-related measures fully comply with the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. This requires binding, independent and transparent monitoring mechanisms, particularly at the EU’s external borders and in return procedures;
• strongly recommends reinforcing procedural safeguards in asylum systems, including the right to an individual assessment, access to legal aid and effective judicial protection;
• calls for a more balanced approach to returns, ensuring that they remain a measure of last resort within a broader, humane and effective migration policy;
• urges the Commission to significantly strengthen the integration dimension of the strategy by allocating adequate financial resources, setting measurable objectives and promoting the active involvement of social partners, local authorities and civil society organisations;
• expresses concern as to whether the implementation of the strategy will fully comply with the Union’s core values, in particular respect for fundamental rights, human dignity, solidarity and the rule of law. It stresses that the credibility and legitimacy of EU migration policy will depend on the extent to which these principles are effectively upheld in practice.