Mr. Guy Verhofstadt:

It is completely crazy to have freedom of movement inside a territory but no common management of the border outside. It is nonsense to do that. In that respect the position of the European Parliament is that we support a European border management in a decent, human way. This is absolutely needed. Do Members know the budget of the European Border and Coastguard Agency, which used to be known as Frontex? It is €250 million. Homeland security in the United States is €62 billion. We think we can solve problems at a European level without giving the means and the possibility to do so. People say the Union does not tackle the challenges of today and does not have good results, but to have good results one needs good policies, for which one needs the financial means. In terms of a European asylum system to replace Dublin - excuse me for criticising Dublin but I refer to its place in asylum policy, in the form of the Dublin Regulation - we need ways of having legal migration because this is the only way to tackle illegal migration. We push asylum seekers into the arms of criminal organisations because the only way to ask for asylum is to set foot on European soil.

I remember the first time I attended the European Council as Belgian Prime Minister. It was in 1999 in the north of Finland, in Tampere, where it is always dark. We decided that we should have a common European asylum and migration policy. So many years later, we are still not there. That is the problem of Europe. It is not only a question of announcing things but also of making them really happen.

The third question was on the specificities and interests of Ireland. The strategy we and the EU negotiator are following is that all the interests of Ireland are taken on board in the negotiation mandate of the European Union. That is the way to work on this. That is the way to ensure that those interests are taken on board in the final agreement. It is also the best way to keep the unity of the EU 27 because - let us be very realistic - there are going to be attempts to undermine it, which cannot happen. The only way to prevent it is to fully take on board the interests of Ireland - the Irish Republic - in the negotiation mandate, and that is what we in the European Parliament will try to secure.