Letter Migration EU 2015

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Courtesy translation
H.E. Donald Tusk
President of the European Council
H.E. Jean-Claude Juncker
President of the European Commission
H.E. Xavier Bettel
Prime Minister of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
Dear Presidents,
Dear Prime Minister,
The unprecedented influx of migrants is a great challenge for Europe. We must act
decisively and in accordance with our values to face this situation.
A large number of these men and women, often with their families, are fleeing war
and persecution and thus need international protection. Europe has a duty to
protect those people for whom it is the last hope.
Others pursue better material conditions through irregular channels. They must be
taken back to their country of origin with dignity.
Within Europe, our approach should be based on responsibility of each Member
State and solidarity of all. Europe should in particular support the Member States
currently facing these population movements. It should ensure that persons in
need of international protection are received according to international and
European standards. Asylum seekers should be better distributed among all
Members states and not be focused on a limited number of destinations.
At the same time, strong support should be provided to countries of origin and
transit with a view to stabilize populations and to prevent as much as possible
people from risking their lives and undertake hazardous journeys. In this regard, it
is necessary to enhance our overall cooperation to increase our humanitarian
assistance, to fight against trafficking of human beings, to improve border
management and tackle the root causes of migrations.
The European Union has adopted a number of significant initiatives and decisions
in recent months. They must now be fully implemented without delay. Where

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necessary, additional actions need to be taken as soon as possible. We support
the following:
• the setting up of “hotspots” in Italy and Greece must be accelerated in order to
ensure as soon as possible identification, registration, fingerprinting of migrants,
determination of the need for international protection and, where necessary,
return of irregular migrants. They must be fully operational, at the latest, before
the end of the year. The Commission and relevant EU agencies should provide
all the necessary support. Germany and France are willing to contribute with
expertise in this context. The Commission should be ready to examine the
creation of further “hotspots” in other Member States;
• all Member States must respect and implement the rules of the Common
European Asylum System. This applies to procedures as well as to standards
for housing and providing for refugees. We call on the Commission to use all
the means at its disposal to make sure that these rules are consistently
enforced. It should rapidly provide further guidance (including best practices in
Member States) to improve asylum procedures. We invite the Commission to
examine steps to bring closer national rules with a view to a unified asylum
system in due time;
• persons in clear need of international protection should be distributed fairly and
in the spirit of solidarity among the Member States. Beyond the decisions taken
in June and July and in the context of this exceptional situation, we invite the
Commission to submit an additional proposal for a permanent and mandatory
relocation mechanism concerning these persons;
• return of irregular migrants must be enforced consistently. Entry bans should be
issued and enforced using the Schengen Information System. High level
dialogues with the main countries of origin and transit of irregular migrants
should be stepped up immediately by the High Representative. All tools should
be mobilised to promote readmission of irregular migrants to countries of origin
and transit. We need a rapid completion of readmission agreements where
negotiations are ongoing and where no such EU agreements exist with
important countries of origin. In this context, we need a more targeted link to
measures in the areas of foreign policy, neighbourhood policy and development
policy, with a view to concluding new, and implementing, existing readmission
agreements, and to providing the necessary support to our partners;
• in order to provide a consistent approach EU-wide and a unified ground for
asylum decisions of national authorities, we need to define a common list of
safe countries of origin. The Commission should submit a proposal for the
definition of such a list, based on a common assessment of the situations in

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relevant third countries and subject to regular updates. Candidates for EU
accession, in particular the Western Balkans, should be designated as safe
country of origin, as long as they ensure the stability of institutions guaranteeing
democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for and protection of
minorities in line with the Copenhagen Criteria;
• several countries, in particular Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon, have undertaken
considerable efforts to protect, house and care for refugees. The European
Union should increase without delay its support, through bilateral programmes,
as well as to the United Nations Agencies and NGOs. Immediate support
should also be provided to refugees in the Horn of Africa;
• the EU should maintain and increase its efforts to dismantle the criminal
networks of migrant smugglers. Cooperation with key partner countries, in
particular Turkey, but also Egypt, Tunisia or Niger, should be enhanced with a
view to improving border management and implementing effective measures to
control and stem migratory flows;
• the establishment of multi-purpose centres in key transit countries, in the first
place Niger, must be accelerated with the support of EU financing. Similar
projects must also be implemented in other important countries of transit and
origin (e.g. Mauritania, Mali, Ethiopia);
• in this context, we must prepare the Valletta Summit in November with our
African partners in order to define common strategies for development and
security, and be ready to adapt as necessary our cooperation instruments and
development assistance.
We welcome the initiative of the Luxembourg Presidency to convene an
exceptional meeting of the JHA Council on 14 September in order to prepare the
necessary decisions. We propose that the European Council be seized thereafter.
France and Germany are determined to defend Schengen. It guarantees freedom
of movement and enables Member States to better meet the challenges they face:
border management, migration policy, asylum policy and the fight against terrorism
and organized crime.
Faced with the major challenge that Europe has to meet and that requires to live
up to the values we carry and the duties we assume, we must strongly intensify
our efforts and carry out the agreed measures quickly and with determination.
Germany and France are willing to contribute to all measures in a spirit of
European solidarity and responsibility.
Angela Merkel François Hollande