Mr. Michael Shotter:

Again, these are very pertinent questions and the Deputy is absolutely right. This is a difficult matter and it is one of the most difficult on the European policy table.

We are under no illusions about that, but that is why we have tried very hard to find the landing zone. Probably as a result, no one is entirely happy, but the point is to find a way of coming together without compromising on our values and standards, and acknowledging our core objective of having in place a better, more stable, fairer and future-proofed system.

The numbers have gone down but that is not to say there is not a lot of pressure. We see that. It varies. Since 2015, when the pressure was very intense and there was a crisis in the eastern Mediterranean, we have seen shifts along the various migratory routes. We found there was a period of intense pressure in the central Mediterranean, linked to the circumstances in Libya. When the pressure reduced in that region, the rate of regular crossings reduced fairly dramatically. Recently, we have seen a lot of pressure arising in the Atlantic because of arrivals to the Canary Islands, impacting Spain. The circumstances are dynamic and always will be. It will depend on the migratory routes, flows and instability in the region. In some respects, these are issues that can be far outside our control. We have to be responsive to these developments. We must obviously work with our partners, to the extent that the issues can be under our control, to help to stabilise the movements and do so in a way that prevents dangerous crossings and prevents people from falling into the hands of the criminal networks. That is the importance of the external dimension.

This year, the numbers have been greatly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. They are low, relatively speaking, but there are still areas experiencing genuine pressure. It is a question of the long tail of the movements. A movement might have occurred a year or two ago, but if a national system is overwhelmed, it can give rise to a situation such as the overcrowding in the Moria camp. It is important to be able to tackle backlogs in the system and to have efficient procedures in place. Without these, there is a cumulative build-up. That is not good and it leads to pressure. If a system becomes overwhelmed, people become stuck in circumstances in which nothing moves forward as it should. The asylum process cannot be completed, leading to very bad frustration, which can boil over, resulting in overcrowding. Therefore, we need to have efficient systems in place and, of course, we need to achieve these by giving the support needed. If we want to have procedures at the borders, as we believe is appropriate, we must acknowledge that it can increase the pressure on the member states of the first arrival. Therefore, we have to be there with our support, through the agencies, for example, and through Frontex and the European Asylum Support Office. It is really important that the upgraded European Asylum Support Office, the EU asylum agency, be as operational as is necessary to provide the required support. All of this needs to be in place to help member states.

The task force is a new development that was announced by the President at the same time as the pact was launched, in September. We have set up this task force to cover Greece. There is also a pilot project to help the Greek authorities with a new camp or new sort of reception centre on Lesbos, one that is of the standards we need to see, namely, standards that are in line with our values on reception conditions. We can do this only by working with the Greek authorities, but we obviously need to be there with them to help them because this is what European solidarity is about. It is not just a matter of operating through the solidarity mechanism but it is also a matter of support at European level.

The EU-Turkey statement has worked to an extent, as stated. It has not worked in every aspect, but the EU has done a good job in resettling people from Turkey. Turkey houses many people in need of international protection, amounting to 3 to 4 million. We acknowledge that. It points to the importance of the legal pathways. That part of the statement has worked well. The numbers went down dramatically after the statement was put in place. It really was essential. It was a game-changer at the time but, at the same time, other aspects of it have not worked entirely as they should. We need to work with Turkey to make sure there is an improvement. In this regard, I mentioned the importance of the partnerships. We must continue to work with partner countries if we are to introduce the stability desired.