Source: BMI News · The constitution · 21 August 2015 Interior Minister de Maizière meets his French counterpart Cazeneuve to discuss the EU refugee policy Federal Interior Minister meets French Minister of the Interior Cazeneuve

Yesterday evening the Federal Minister of the Interior, Dr Thomas de Maizière, met the Interior Minister of the French Republic, Bernard Cazeneuve, at the Hotel Adlon in Berlin for a working dinner. One day after Federal Minister de Maizière presented an updated forecast regarding the number of asylum applications expected in 2015 to the press, the two ministers discussed measures to cope with the consistently high level of migration to the EU . The ministers' discussion was also intended to prepare the meeting between French President François Hollande and Chancellor Angela Merkel on this issue on 24 August 2015.

During the joint press conference following their meeting, Federal Minister de Maizière clearly stated that, given the increasing number of asylum seekers, a European solution was all the more necessary, because otherwise also EU cooperation as a whole would be at risk. The Common European Asylum System is a main pillar of the Schengen system, the minister underlined adding that the European Commission had to use all available means to ensure compliance with the current legal framework. "It is unacceptable for European institutions to continue working at the current pace" , he emphasized.

A clear target, the minister said, is to set up "hotspots", i.e. the waiting areas for refugees in Greece and Italy as the countries of first admission by the end of this year. Germany and France also agreed, the minister went on, that the EU must jointly define which countries are considered safe countries of origin. "This includes in particular all candidate countries of the European Union" , the minister outlined as Germany's and France's joint position.

The minister also expressed discontent with the conclusion of EU -wide readmission agreements so far and again called on the European Commission to comply with its commitment to negotiating such agreements in future. "We want to make sure that the countries' willingness to readmit their own nationals is linked with all other policy fields. This means that support is provided only for countries that readmit their own nationals" , the minister explained.

In his statement Federal Minister de Maizière attached major importance to the summit of the European Union with African countries to be held in Paris in autumn this year to solve the urgent asylum problem.

Finally, the minister underlined, without going into detail, that he and his colleague would present a proposal for a common European asylum policy to the French president and the German chancellor - also in the interest of maintaining the Schengen system. "In all these questions there has been major agreement between France and Germany for months" , said Minister de Maizière, praising the constructive and friendly cooperation between the two countries.

Further information Number of asylum applicants expected to exceed all-time record more

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