Metsola: EU has failed on migration

The EU must do better in facing the issue of irregular migration, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola (PN/EPP) said on Thursday (9 November), as it continues to be a hot topic across the bloc, seven months before EU elections.

In response to rising pressure to curb a recent surge in irregular migration, EU countries have been working on a reform of its joint asylum system, having in the past repeatedly failed to agree on a functional new regime.

It was necessary to be honest about such failures, Metsola said in Berlin, where she gave the annual ‘State of Europe’ Speech of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS), a think tank affiliated with the centre-right CDU (EPP), the largest German opposition party.

“Migration is one area where we have seen too little progress in the last ten years,” she acknowledged, adding that a solution would also require being “firm with those not eligible for asylum.”

MEPs are currently negotiating with the Commission and EU governments to determine the final shape of the migration reform. 

The proposal on the table includes a more even distribution of arrivals among member states and asylum screenings directly at the EU border.

Metsola said she was “cautiously optimistic” that the ongoing negotiations would “finally break the deadlock” regarding migration.

Turning successful solutions into a positive narrative of the EU was important to reignite excitement about the EU, the president argued.

“We need more people to think about (…) how we can bring the EU closer to the people we represent; how we can make Europe less about bureaucracy and more about change,” she stressed in Berlin as she pleaded with the attendants to engage with European politics and to pay attention to the upcoming EU elections.

Rising profile

The active promotion of EU themes has been a key concern for Metsola throughout her tenure.

Her eye-catching public appearances have involved a meeting with Hollywood actress Cate Blanchett in parliament and a prominent trip to Israel with Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in the aftermath of Hams’ attack.

The Maltese’s rising profile has led to rumours that she might be in line for high-profile EU positions, including the Commission presidency. 

In Berlin, Metsola underlined her personal ambitions as she confidently addressed wider geopolitical topics, such as the conflict between Israel and Hamas, reiterating the EU parliament’s call for humanitarian pauses and, ultimately, a two-state solution.

She also emphasised that the EU must provide Ukraine, Moldova and Western Balkans with “a clear European perspective (…) if we want our way to survive”.

[Edited by Alice Taylor]

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