The Finnish government remains adamant that burden-sharing must be based on the voluntary participation of EU member states, says Paula Risikko (NCP), the Minister of the Interior.
Finland will not approve of a permanent burden-sharing mechanism as member states of the European Union begin to re-negotiate the contents of the Dublin Regulation, states Paula Risikko (NCP), the Minister of the Interior.
The Finnish government, she says, remains adamant that burden-sharing must be based on the voluntary participation of member states.
“Our government programme states that Finland will comply with the principle of voluntary participation. We’ve stipulated that also others do their part. What has happened now is that Finland has done its part, but some of the others have not. This is a rather unsustainable situation,” tells Risikko.
“Whatever the new system will be, I at least expect that it’ll address this problem.”
Estonia, which holds the presidency of the Council of the European Union, has held bilateral negotiations with member states, but the details of its upcoming proposal remain unknown, says Risikko.
“I’m eagerly looking forward to that,” she tells.
The premise of the re-negotiation will according to her be to agree on an emergency burden-sharing system consisting of both incentives and sanctions to prepare for an asylum crisis similar to that witnessed in the second half of 2015. She points out that while such a crisis is not on the horizon, millions of people continue to live uncertain circumstances in, for example, Africa.
She also draws attention to the migrant deal between the EU and Turkey, which enables the union to return asylum seekers arriving to Greece across the Mediterranean to Turkey.
“That has held up so far, and hopefully it’ll do so also going forward.”
The EU, she stresses, must nevertheless be prepared. “If we don’t prepare for these things and don’t find an agreement on these things, we’ll be caught with our pants down. That must not be allowed to happen. And we want to be at the table when the preparations are discussed.”
Aleksi Teivainen – HT Photo: Jussi Nukari – Lehtikuva Source: Uusi Suomi
