Trade with Greece
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In this context, Mr. Avramopoulos is setting in
motion changes in the system for the granting of
asylum, which is governed by the Dublin II and III
legislation and stipulates that asylum-seekers
must submit the relevant application in the first
European country of entry. The proposal con-
cerns the resettlement of more refugees to other
EU countries, so that the burden is equally dis-
tributed among member states.
In regard to European policy on legal migration,
the Commissioner states that “of course, we can-
not ignore the levels of unemployment in the EU,
but, at the same time, we must understand the
needs of the labour market in an aging Europe.”
According to the Commission, “Europe will have
to attract the right talent to be more competitive at
a global level.”
In regard to irregular migration and the effort to
tackle human trafficking, the Commission points out
that, according to Frontex, there were 278,000
irregular border crossings in 2014, nearly double
the 2011 figure. Mr. Avramopoulos stated that get-
ting at the root of the problem requires the
enhancement of collaboration with third countries,
i.e. both countries of origin and transit countries. He
said that the EU has intensified its cooperation with
these countries — not only African countries, but
also Turkey, Serbia and Kosovo. Mr. Avramopoulos
also added that in the following days he would
visit many of these countries, starting from
Belgrade.
Asylum
Priority is given to the clear classification of types
of asylum and the methods used for granting asy-
lum. The European Union has one of the most
advanced asylum protection systems in the world.
As the Commission said, “Now is the time to fully
and coherently implement the recently adopted
Common European Asylum System. The
Commission will take all efforts that existing diver-
gences in national asylum policy practices disap-
pear.” Moreover, deepening the cooperation with
third countries will be essential to address the
root causes of migration, as well as mainstream-
ing migration into the design of development
strategies. Finally, the Commission is determined
to intensify the efforts of the European Union in
regard to relocation and resettlement, in close
dialogue with Member States and third countries
that host important numbers of refugees.
Blue Card
Along with addressing existing unemployment,
Europe will have to attract the right talent to be
more competitive at a global level. This is the rea-
son why the European Commission will launch a
review of the EU Blue Card Directive. This chal-
