Activities of Elly SCHLEIN related to 2015/2095(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
The situation in the Mediterranean and the need for a holistic EU approach to migration (debate) IT
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on the situation in the Mediterranean and the need for a holistic EU approach to migration
Amendments (27)
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Considers that the migration crisis can be addressed only within the context of a European approach and not by bilateral meetings among Members States; calls for a newwelcomes the European agenda on migration under the leadership of the Commission and the European Council, underpinned by solidarity among the Member States. This agenda mighust include the replacement of the Dublin regulation with a centralised European asylum system;
Amendment 30 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Reiterates the complexity of the development-migration nexus, diverging from the common view of development as a means to reduce, if not eliminate, migration, without denying that development can help mitigate some of thesignificantly contribute to address the root causes of forced migration, such as conflicts or state fragilityresponding to political and economic instability, human rights violations, conflicts, global inequalities, poverty, unemployment and climate change; recalls that emigration rises with economic development until countries reach an upper-middle-income country status (around USD 7000-8000 per capita), at which point it begins to decrease;
Amendment 35 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Considers that development aid should not be used to stem the flows of migrants and asylum seekers, and that development aid programmes should not serve as a pretext to preventing departure or tightening the borders between the countries, ignoring the causes that drive people from their homes such as human rights abuses;
Amendment 64 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Considers the issues and problems faced by women migrants in the migration process and its impact on women’s empowerment and human rights to be of major importance; stresses that an explicit gender perspective in migration policies is vital; calls in particular for gender discrimination to be removed in the legal aspects of migration; insists on the need to respect the human and individual rights of the weakest among the migrants, namelyin particular women and children (including the need for education for migrating and refugee children), and on the need to include these rights in the post-2015 development agenda;
Amendment 71 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Takes note of the creation of an ‘Emergency Trust Fund for stability and addressing root causes of illegal immigration in Africa’ and strongly encourages the Member States to contribute to the Fund in order to effectively help to foster stability and to address the root causes of migration; asks the Commission to enhance the transparency of the Fund and underlines that monitoring and evaluation of the projects and programmes financed will be essential, to make sure the Fund serve its purposes helping directly those in need and not financing governments responsible for human rights violations;
Amendment 76 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Calls on the Commission and the EU to fully respect the principle of Policy Coherence for Development (Article 208 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union) in its migration and Mediterranean policies, and in particular in the implementation of its European Agenda on Migration; underlines the need for a more systematic incorporation of the development dimension in migration policies;
Amendment 80 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Recommends an incorporation of migration issues in the dialogue with partner countries and regions, ensuring that cooperation with third countries does not lead to trap migrants in abusive situations or preventing them from accessing fair asylum procedures;
Amendment 83 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 b (new)
Paragraph 6 b (new)
6b. Welcomes the November Summit in La Valletta as a real opportunity to discuss solutions to the migration crisis with developing countries; recalls the need for the summit to address not only the fight against human trafficking and the need to secure access to protection and asylum, but also the root causes of migration and the need of stabilisation and development of the African countries concerned;
Amendment 86 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 c (new)
Paragraph 6 c (new)
6c. Calls for the development of policies and mechanisms to maximize the development impact of remittances, continuing efforts to decrease their costs;
Amendment 302 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Welcomes the positive role played by navy vessels in saving lives at sea and in disrupting criminal networks to date; supportnotes the aims of navy operations such as Operation Sophia, and stresses the need to protect life, emphasising that all aspects of the operation should ensure that migrant lives are protected;
Amendment 373 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Takes the view that the establishment of urgent relocation measures is a move in the right direction, and; regrets that, notwithstanding undertakings by the Council to relocate 160 000 people, only a few hundred people have been relocated from Italy and Greece; calls on Member States to fulfil their obligations with regard to those measures as soon as possible;
Amendment 387 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Recalls that, for the purposes of the Relocation Decisions, relocation will cover only those nationalities for which the proportion of positive decisions granting international protection in the Union has been 75 % or more for the preceding three months, on the basis of Eurostat data; notes that the Relocation Decisions will affect a relatively small number of people, and will leave out the large numbers of applicants originating from other third countries who cannot be relocated under those decisions; stresses that this must in no way lead to discrimination or restrict the fundamental individual right of those concerned to seek international protection, as is happening in certain Member States;
Amendment 505 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26 a (new)
Paragraph 26 a (new)
26a. Considers that persons seeking international protection should be able to apply for a European humanitarian visa directly at any consulate or embassy of the Member States, and if granted, such a humanitarian visa would allow its holder to enter the territory of the Member State issuing the visa for the sole purpose to lodge therein an application for international protection; believes, therefore, that it is necessary to amend the Visa Code by including more specific common provisions on humanitarian visas;
Amendment 623 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 37
Paragraph 37
37. Points out that, in the event of a mass influx, the Commission, acting on its own initiative or after examination of a request by a Member State, can propose to trigger Council Directive 2001/55/EC on Temporary Protection (the ‘Temporary Protection Directive’)1 ; observes that the actual triggering requires a Council decision adopted by a qualified majority; notes that the directive should be triggered where there is a risk that the Union asylum system would be unable to cope with the mass influx or imminent mass influx of displaced persons; highlights, however,regrets that, since its adoption in 2001, the Temporary Protection Directive has never been triggered; __________________ 1 Directive 2001/55/EC of 20 July 2001 sets minimum standards for giving temporary protection in the event of a mass influx of displaced persons and on measures promoting a balance of efforts between Member States in receiving such persons and bearing the consequences thereof (OJ L 212, 7.8.2001, p. 12).
Amendment 627 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 38
Paragraph 38
38. Notes that the Temporary Protection Directive also provides for the possibility of evacuation of displaced persons from third countries, and that such evacuation would allow for the use of humanitarian corridors, in cooperation with UNHCR, with an obligation on Member States – where necessary – to provide every facility for obtaining visas; urges the Member States to avail themselves of this possibility;
Amendment 768 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 50
Paragraph 50
50. Believes that the return of migrants should only be carried out safely, in full compliance with the fundamental and procedural rights of the migrants in question, and where the country to which they are being returned is safe for them; reiterates, in that regard, that voluntary return shoulds must be prioritised over forced returns;
Amendment 821 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 54
Paragraph 54
54. Underlines, in any event, that any list of safe countries of origin should not, under any circumstances, include countries in which fundamental rights are not safeguarded; such a list, in addition, must not detract from the principle that every person must be allowed an appropriate individual examination of his or her application for international protection;
Amendment 923 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 69
Paragraph 69
69. Takes noteRegrets that on 15 December 2015 the Commission came forward with a proposal for a targeted revision of the Schengen Borders Code, proposing to introduce systematic controls of all Union nationals (not only on third-country nationals) against the relevant databases at the external borders of the Schengen Area;
Amendment 935 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 71
Paragraph 71
71. Points out, in that regard, that the Union agencies require the resources necessary to allow them to fulfil their assigned tasks; insists that the Union agencies and the Member States keep the Parliament fully informed of work undertaken at the hotspots, to ensure that fundamental rights are being respected and that the hotspots are not turned into extended detention centres;
Amendment 966 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 74
Paragraph 74
74. Recognises that one of the main purposes of hotspots is to allow the Union to grant protection and humanitarian assistance in a swift manner to those in need; emphasises that great care needs to be taken to ensure that the categorising of migrants at hotspots is carried out in full respect for the rights of all migrants; acknowledges, however, that proper identification of applicants for international protection at the point of first arrival in the Union should help facilitate the overall functioning of any reformed CEAS; takes the view that if the relocations had already begun, giving new arrivals clear and certain prospects for their future, identification would be easier; urges the Member States, therefore, to make up for the significant lost time in implementing the commitments made with regard to relocation;
Amendment 983 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 77
Paragraph 77
77. Notes that the Commission is considering a revision of Council Directive 2002/90/EC defining the facilitation of unauthorised entry, transit and residence; takes the view that anyone who provides different forms of humanitarian assistance to those in need should not be criminalised and that Union law should reflect that principle; in this regard regrets the measures introduced by several Member States designed to criminalise those who provide humanitarian assistance, by exposing them to the risk of criminal sanctions;
Amendment 1009 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 82
Paragraph 82
82. Understands that the external dimension should focus on cooperation with third countries in tacklingto address the root causes of, and addressing, irregular flows to Europe migration flows; understands that partnerships and cooperation with key countries of origin, transit and destination should continue to be a focus, for example through the Khartoum and Rabat processes, the Africa-EU migration and mobility dialogue, the Budapest Process and the Prague Process;
Amendment 1032 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 86
Paragraph 86
86. Recalls that the Union has intensified its external cooperation with third countries in migration and asylum in order to respond adequately to the current refugee crisis, and has launched new cooperation initiatives, such as the EU-Turkey Joint Action Plan; emphasises, in that respect, the need for all parties to fulfil their commitments deriving from the Joint Action Plan, including addressing the root causes leading to the massive influx of Syrians, stepping up cooperation for the support of Syrians under temporary protection and their host communities in Turkey, and for Turkey to fulfil its commitments to prevent irregular migration flows from its territory to the Union;
Amendment 1070 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 89
Paragraph 89
89. Reaffirms that the Union must adopt a long-term strategy to help counteract the ‘push factors’ in third countries (persecution, conflict, generalised violence or, extreme poverty, climate change), which force people into the hands of criminal smuggling networks, which they see as their only chance to reach the Union;
Amendment 1109 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 94
Paragraph 94
94. Welcomes the recently established Emergency Trust Fund for Africa and the EUR 1.8 billion pledged to the fund, which has added an additional element to third- country funding; calls, however, for transparency criteria and adequate monitoring mechanisms to be applied in order to ensure that the fund's resources really are allocated to development and reach the neediest; calls on the Member States to continue contributing to the fund;
Amendment 1116 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 95 a (new)
Paragraph 95 a (new)
95a. Recommends that development cooperation funding must be not conditioned to the implementation of readmission agreements and that refugee reception funds must not be recorded as development aid; points out that every intervention has to be conceived in a coherent strategy between EU internal and external policies
Amendment 1169 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 106
Paragraph 106
106. Further notes that, according to recent Eurostat projections, the ratio of people aged 65 or older, relative to those aged 15 to 64, will increase from 27.5 % at the beginning of 2013 to almost 50 % by 2050; notes that this would mean a change from the present ratio of four working-age persons for every person aged 65 or older to only two working-age persons for everyone aged 65 or older; takes the view, therefore, that forward-looking policies of immigration management and integration are key to guaranteeing European welfare and social security standards in the long term;