Event report

In the EU irregular migration tops the list of both citizen's concerns and political priorities. Despite some progress, the EU continues to undergo migration more than it controls it and few European leaders seem to realise the magnitude of the problem irregular migration poses both in terms of security and social cohesion. During this event, both speakers pleaded for a less ideological and more pragmatic approach to migration and a firm political commitment towards strong borders and duly controlled migration flows. Concretely, the speakers proposed to strengthen Frontex’ means and political support, penalise the lack of cooperation of migrants abusing the asylum system, increase conditionality with other EU policies (notably development), rethink family reunification and apply stricter integration policies (a national competence). Stronger borders will make a stronger Europe.