Jean Asselborn, Luxembourg's Minister for Foreign and Eropean Affairs and Minister for Immigration and Asylum, participated in two conferences in Brussels yesterday, Tuesday 16 February.
The first conference concerned "The refugee crisis: an insider's view for outsiders": before the audience of decision makers, European civil servants, students and journalists, Minister Asselborn delivered an analysis of the unprecedented migratory phenomena outside and inside the European Union. While mentioning European measures already taken to deal with the current situation, he stressed the importance of respecting these decisions, whose implementation depends solely on the political will of the Member States.
Minister Asselborn also stressed the need for European solutions to common challenges, and brought up the united effort required by the EU to maintain the integrity of the Schengen area, including strengthening the joint management of external borders of the EU, highlighting his hope or vision of "pooled sovereignty".
Minister Asselborn also attended the General Affairs Council which took this opportunity to look into the implementation of the European Council conclusions of December 2015, particularly in the field of migration. The council also made preparations for the European Council on 18 and 19 February. They paid particularly attention to the British referendum on membership of the European Union.
Finally, Ministers noted the progress of work on the inter-institutional agreement 'Better Regulation' approved under the Luxembourg Presidency of the EU Council, whose primary objective is to improve the way the EU legislates to ensure that its legislation will better serve citizens and businesses.
Photo provided by MAEE. (L-R: Jean Asselborn, Minister for Foreign and Eropean Affairs; Frans Timmermans, Vice-President of the Commission)
