BUREAU OF THE EUROPEAN MIGRATION FORUM
Minutes of the meeting of 10 June 2015
Participants:
Bureau members:

Luis Miguel Pariza Castaños, European Economic and Social Committee (EESC)

Laura Corrado, European Commission (EC), DG Home Affairs

Kadri Soova (PICUM), Bureau member representing civil society organisations at European
level

Yonous Muhammadi (Greek Forum of Refugees), Bureau member representing civil society
organisations at national level
Staff:

Valeria Setti, European Commission (EC), DG Home Affairs

Annemarie Wiersma, European Economic and Social Committee (EESC)
Excused:

Eyachew Tefera (ENAR), Bureau member representing civil society organisations
at European level
1.
Adoption of the agenda
A first point was added to the agenda: general debate on the European Agenda on Migration.
2.
General debate on the European Agenda on Migration
The European Commission had published its European Agenda on Migration on 13 May. COM
explained that the document as such does not need to be adopted by the Council, but that the
proposals and measures it contains need to be discussed, developed and approved by the Council.
COM explained that the reactions following the publication of the Agenda on 13 May and the ensuing
package of proposals presented on 27 May had been mixed, especially on the part of the Member
States and in particular related to the quotas for resettlement and relocation.
The agenda will be discussed in the JHA Council on 16 June and at the European Council the week
after. However, it is not expected that any concluding decisions will be taken and the debate will
therefore continue under the next Presidency (LUX).
Although PICUM has not yet issued an official reaction to the Agenda, Ms Soova indicated to be glad
about the use of more positive terminology in the Agenda and the attention for legal migration. Points
of critique concerned the military action directed at smugglers and the fact that the Agenda has little
attention for children. Ms Soova also expressed concern over the possibility to use a much harder
return policy as sweetener for MS to accept the proposals on resettlement and relocation.
Mr Muhammadi also had a mixed view on the agenda, being positive about the proposals for
relocation and resettlement quotas and the chapter on legal migration. He was unhappy about the
proposal for military action to stop smuggling and pointed out that the Agenda failed to recognise
properly that women and children require a special approach.
The EESC agreed with Ms Soova when she noted that the Forum participants, the EESC and civil
society in general, should support the EC in its endeavours to convince the Council to accept their
proposals. Mr Pariza found that many of the conclusions of the last Forum were reflected in the
Agenda on Migration and suggested sending an email to the Forum participants to thank them for
having worked on the drafting of those conclusions.
3.
Involvement of EP in the Forum
COM, EESC and Ms Soova reported on their meeting of 11 May with Mr Antoine Cahen of the EP's
LIBE secretariat to discuss the Parliament's role in the Forum.
As Mr Cahen had not given any concrete follow up to this meeting, the Forum secretariat had sent a
reminder. COM said it would talk to MEP Claude Moraes about reinforcing cooperation between the
EP and the Forum.
4.
Forum Bureau matters
a)
Resignation Ezequiel Iurcovich
Civil society member Ezequiel Iurcovich had decided to resign as Forum Bureau member for personal
reasons. In the absence of an existing procedure governing this type of situation and given that his
mandate would have come to an end at the end of this year, the Bureau decided not to organise an adhoc re-election. During the next Forum meeting, there will be elections to fill the vacant post.
It was decided that should a similar situation occur again, the person who came in second at the
elections at which the stepped down member had been chosen would be asked to replace him/her. A
similar practice could be applied, if deemed necessary, in case of temporary absence lasting a few
months or more, such as parental leave or serious illness.
b)
Communication on Bureau activities
Following a request from a Forum participant to receive the minutes of the Forum Bureau, it was
decided to start publishing the minutes on the dedicated EMF page at the EESC website.
5.
Next Forum
It was decided to organise a consultation with civil society on 14 September, with the main objective
of discussing the topic of the next meeting of the forum (foreseen for beginning 2016). The Forum
secretariat will send a 'save the date' by the end of June. The Bureau will liaise per email to prepare
the consultation.
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COM said it considers the activities in the field of legal migration in the short and medium term to be
of great importance and would prefer the next Forum to deal with this matter. The Forum could be
part of a wider reflection on future initiatives, such as the planned review of the complete legal
migration acquis.
Ms Soova and the EESC agreed that focusing on labour migration would be a good idea and proposed
links to more specific areas, such as the Blue Card directive, demographic change, family
reunification, unemployment, recognition of skills and qualifications, equal treatment, labour
exploitation, employer sanctions and undeclared and domestic work.
6.
Date of the next Forum Bureau meeting
The next Forum Bureau meeting will take place on 14 September 2015, starting with a working lunch,
followed by the consultation with civil society.
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