Ylva Johansson

Spain, holding the EU Presidency, remains non-committal about arranging an urgent Council meeting to vote on Bulgaria and Romania's Schengen membership.

Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska expressed Europe's strengthened stance with the integration of both countries but refrained from committing to a timeline, citing ongoing efforts.

European Commissioner for Internal Affairs, Ylva Johansson, reaffirmed her commitment to seeing Bulgaria and Romania integrated into the Schengen Area this year. Johansson expressed her optimism following a successful fact-finding mission in Bulgaria, emphasizing the readiness of both countries for Schengen accession.

The European Commission is expected to present its latest legislation on countering migrant smuggling in Brussels on Tuesday, which sets out a new "legal, operational and international cooperation framework."

The European Union is in a "global race" with the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand to scoop up skilled migrants, the European Commission has acknowledged.

"Europe is engaged in a global race for talent, the same way that we are fighting a global race for raw materials, for energy," Commissioner Margaritis Schinas said.

The results that Bulgaria has achieved in fulfilling the requirements for entering the Schengen area will be checked in September by a foreign mission with the participation of representatives of the Netherlands and Austria - the two countries that are still against the admission of Bulgaria into the space without border checks.

A resolution by members of the European Parliament has called on member-states to implement a radical change in search and rescue policies in the Mediterranean with priority given to preventive action so that no human lives are lost.

Migration Reform

European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson speaks to the media prior to the European Home Affairs Ministers Council meeting in Luxembourg, 08 June 2023. EPA-EFE/JULIEN WARNAND

The interior ministers of EU member states agreed on Thursday in Luxembourg on a common position to revamp the bloc's migration and asylum policy, although staunchly anti-migration countries Hungary and Poland voiced strong opposition.

European Union ministers agreed on Thursday on how to share out the responsibility for looking after migrants and refugees, after 12 hours of negotiations got Italy and Greece to sign up to a deal that has eluded the bloc for nearly a decade.

European Union interior ministers on Thursday made a fresh attempt to overcome one of the bloc's most intractable political problems as they weighed new measures for sharing out responsibility for migrants entering Europe without authorization.