Citizenship and Immigration committee  I would say that it is internal politics between the two countries to make sure what kinds of definitions are used—for example, safe countries and safe returns. We have exactly the same kind of conversations in Europe specifically concerning the third countries, and I know how co

Citizenship and Immigration committee  We have a lot of discussions on safe returns with different types of countries. One example I would like to mention is Turkey, because we discussed safe returns and agreements with Turkey specifically after the events in 2016 and 2017 in that country—that is, what kind of definit

Citizenship and Immigration committee  One of the replies from the EU side—and I'm not saying it is perfect or the most successful one—is internal resettlement. It is the agreement between EU member states on proportionally how many migrants they would take from those countries that are the most exposed, namely Italy

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Thank you for your question. Crises are not all the same size. They can also be assessed in different ways. It depends on experience and the arrival of migrants to the country. If I make the comparison between different EU member states and Canada, what the EU experienced in 2

Citizenship and Immigration committee  You are very pessimistic, somehow. I don't have the deadline of this week. I think this might still last for 2019. That's a different hearing.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Yes, I know. Concerning Venezuela, there are two things there. I know Mr. Grandi, who is the UN high commissioner for migration, visited the region earlier last week. He actually participated in debates yesterday in the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels, as he comes from the r

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I should say that the debates in the European Union, imagining the 28 EU member states around the table, are not always easy ones, as there are different players and voices around the table. Having said that, I should say that in 2015 and 2016, when the crisis hit the door of th

Citizenship and Immigration committee  In terms of the numbers, asylum application and citizenship for main groups for Germany, the number last year, 2017, was 222,562, so 222,000.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Yes.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  As overall numbers declined, the applications for Germany also went down. To mention the origins a little more, specifically for Germany: 50,000 of that figure came from Syria alone, approximately 23,000 were from Iraq and approximately 18,000 were from Afghanistan. Those were th

Citizenship and Immigration committee  What Germany is doing would be best for the Germans to answer, because that's a national activity. That's not from the EU's perspective. Individual countries are tackling it in each case; that's the responsibility of the individual EU member states. There is not much we can say f

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Economic opportunities and openness of European businesses have been high on the agenda for many EU member states to make sure the opportunities in economic sectors and activities are open to the migrants. The track record among different EU member states will differ. In some mem

Citizenship and Immigration committee  One of the priorities we try to address when the migrants arriving in Europe are registered is whether or not they already have some relatives in the EU. They might travel to the EU or undertake very dangerous trips across the sea basically for reuniting with the family. If that

Citizenship and Immigration committee  There are two answers to your question. First of all, I can't speak on behalf of EU member states because visa applications and visas—and that would be for any kind of third-country person outside of the EU who has applied for a visa and is travelling to the EU—are the prerogati

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Therefore, for us, the key point is the personnel and the availability of the numbers of people who would tackle the given numbers.