Xavier Bettel meets with Mark Rutte, Prime Minister of Holland, for talks devoted mainly to the "refugees problem" and the "migration crisis" in Europe - Hoofdinhoud
Xavier Bettel i and Mark Rutte i in Luxembourg on 9 September 2015
(c) SIP / Charles Caratini
On 9 September 2015, the Prime Minister, Minister of State, Xavier Bettel, hosted Mark Rutte, Prime Minister of Holland, on an official visit. The discussion mainly dealt with "the refugees problem" in Europe as well as ongoing work under the Luxembourg Presidency of the Council of the European Union, which Holland will take over in the first half of 2016. Solidarity beyond Europe, the issue of quotas for relocating refugees within the EU, the list of safe countries common to all Member States and the central role of the Justice and Home Affairs Council (JHA) in decision-making were covered.
Xavier Bettel reiterated the views of the Luxembourg Presidency on the "problem of refugees" and the "migration crisis" which is currently affecting Europe: "a national solution is no solution, we need a European solution", he said, emphasising the importance of "solidarity both within Europe and beyond Europe", with the African continent, for example. In that capacity, the Prime Minister recalled that a Summit on migration will take place on November 11 and 12, 2015 in Valletta (Malta) to "work out solutions together". "It's no good waiting until November to get in touch with other countries and continents, we need to do so now", said Xavier Bettel.
He repeated that solidarity should not be "limited to the 28 EU Member States", and should also be sought further afield."We need Africa and the other continents in this context", he continued. He expressed the hope that "in countries neighbouring those affected by conflict, there would also be a willingness [to accommodate refugees - *editor's note], which is not always the case". By contrast he welcomed the "enormous efforts" of countries such as Turkey, Jordan or Lebanon "where a quarter of the population comprises Syrian refugees".
Xavier Bettel raised the need for a list of safe countries at EU level (Member States currently have diverging national lists), which the European Commission is working on; a list of safe countries would facilitate faster processing of asylum applications from citizens of these countries. "We want a European solution… in the short, medium and long term", stressed Xavier Bettel, indicating that if no such solution is found, Luxembourg was preparing for the possibility, along with its Dutch and Belgian neighbours of drawing up a common Benelux list and putting in place "wider cooperation in terms of the return of persons to whom refugee status had not been granted".
Lastly, the Prime Minister made an appeal "not to confuse migrants and refugees", stating that there are "people who come for economic reasons and others who come to survive". "We are not dealing with people seeking a better life here, but people who want to live, it's as simple as that. These are the people need to be given priority, and that's why a list of safe countries is important", Xavier Bettel stressed. "We cannot accommodate people whose aim is merely to have a better life", he concluded.
On putting in place quotas for the relocation of asylum seekers in the EU Member States in case of a huge influx of migrants and asylum seekers, the Luxembourg Prime Minister indicated that if these mechanisms could help, then he was in favour. Nevertheless, while the number of people coming to Europe will continue to increase, Xavier Bettel took the view that it was important to treat the migration problem at a global, rather than a national level.
Fielding a question from a journalist, the Prime Minister specified that in his view, quotas were not "the best solution, nor the solution we recommend", considering that they were an "acknowledgement of failure to come to an agreement". "But if they are the only means of finding a solution in the short term, then that's the path we need to take", he continued, noting that this cannot be the only measure but that there was a need for a permanent mechanism".
The Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, backed up his Luxembourg counterpart on this point, also stressing the need for a permanent system of relocation for asylum seekers in the EU. Such a system would, in his view, facilitate an end to secondary movements of refugee candidates in view of submitting their application in the country that they consider the best for so doing, which "contravenes all the principles" of European rules on the matter. In the medium term, this also means, for Mark Rutte, taking action against people traffickers. "Both measures need to be adopted, agreement cannot be reached on quotas if there is no clear commitment in the medium term", he said.
Xavier Bettel also wished to draw attention to the importance of the Justice and Home Affairs Council (JHA) as "the place where discussions should be held and solutions should be found", an opinion shared by the Dutch Prime Minister, who spoke of an "integrated approach". "A meeting at the Head of States or Governments is not the right forum, the JHA Council is the place where Immigration and Home Affairs ministers should find solutions, as they are best suited to finding adequate measures", Xavier Bettel stated.
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