Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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47. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he is aware that 104 non-governmental organisations from across Europe have signed a statement condemning the European Commission’s communication on a new partnership framework with third countries; that this is testament to the strong concern across European civil society regarding the direction the European Union is taking; that this proposed partnership framework fundamentally contradicts international human rights law and Ireland’s commitments to supporting and upholding human rights, which was laid out in his Department’s The Global Island policy document; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19465/16]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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On 7 June the European Commission published a new results-oriented concept of cooperation with third countries, the Migration Partnership Framework, which brings together the EU and its Member States, and focuses on ensuring the necessary coherence between the Union's migration policy and other Union policies, notably development and trade policies. The Communication states that the ultimate aim of the Framework is the coordinated and coherent management of migration in full respect for humanitarian and human rights obligations. It builds on the High Level Dialogues which the EU High Representative for Foreign Policy has been conducting in recent months aimed at engaging even more closely with countries of origin and transit and indeed with countries hosting large numbers of migrants. €8 billion has been earmarked for the initiative up to 2020.

I welcome this focus in the Commission’s initiative. Europe’s response to the migration crisis must be a comprehensive one, using all relevant EU policies, instruments and tools and delivered in a manner that fully respects the human rights of all concerned. Our response has to include longer-term solutions that address the root causes of such large-scale movements, and EU and Member State development cooperation programmes have a key role to play.

At the same time, Ireland will continue to reaffirm the principle that decisions on aid allocations - and in particular humanitarian assistance - should be made on the basis of need, and that this principle must not be forgotten as Europe responds to the migratory pressures which it is facing. We should also remember the importance of ensuring that focusing on those countries and regions which are contributing to the migration flows does not lead to the exclusion of other developing partners, which are currently not contributing to these flows. The EU needs to continue to build a comprehensive response to the immediate crisis, while looking to build the resilience of countries and communities – especially in Africa – where future crises can be averted.