Preparation of the Special European Council meeting of February, in particular the need to develop sustainable solutions in the area of asylum and migration (debate)
Speaker: Terry REINTKE (Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance / Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Date: 2023-02-01

  Terry Reintke,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Madam President, Commissioner, Minister, colleagues, ahead of the EUCO meeting next week, we are facing a crucial moment for the future of our economy and our competitiveness. But let me be clear, it is not with senseless deregulation, dismantling workers’ rights or environmental standards, or this so-called moratorium on regulation that we can make the European Union strong and competitive for the 21st century. 
Our competitiveness will depend on how well we can lead the Green transformation globally, supporting green industries, being the first when it comes to climate—friendly and environmentally—friendly technologies. Yes, for that we will actually need green and sustainable regulation to give planning security to our companies and, yes, for setting the scene globally to move ahead with the green transformation. Indeed, we will need money for that. We will not need random investment, but we will need very targeted green investment in order to make this possible. 
I’ve read the letter that the Commission President sent to the Member States on migration and let me be honest, to me, it sounded – in a very technocratic and depoliticised language – like a plan to create a Fortress Europe. Not once was there was a mention of human rights, not once there was a mention of the suffering of those who are trying to find shelter in the European Union, and not once there was a mention of international law – international law that binds the European Union when it comes to asylum. But also, in the framing, we are talking about migration here – and migration is not only about asylum and returns. This whole initiative can only work if we look at migration in its entirety. 
I negotiated recently a coalition agreement between the Conservative Party and the Greens in North Rhine-Westphalia, and I can tell you what the number one concern of the SMEs, of the care homes and the citizens was: it was the question of how we can attract trained workers, trained labour in order to fit the shortages in our labour market. If we are not looking at this, if we are not looking at what our citizens need, then we are falling short of what we actually need to address. 
Don’t get me wrong. We all want orderly border management. We want legal provisions to be applied, but orderly border management, Mr Weber, also applies to border guards and we have seen in the past that there were illegal pushbacks. We have seen that this has been covered up. We have seen that there was no punishment for this. We have seen that there was no accountability. This, colleagues, is definitely unacceptable. 
The European Union received the Nobel Peace Prize not for building walls, not for encircling this continent in fences, not for pushing back boats of people who are looking for shelter. We received the Nobel Peace Prize because this Union stands for a promise, and, for me, the responsibility and the duty that we have learned from the horrors of the past – from nationalist devastations, but also from the suffering that this continent has brought to the world; a promise that we will be a beacon of human rights and of shared values. This, Commission President, does not end at how we behave at our external borders.