00:00Coming up, we'll be joined by Charlie Weimers, the Swedish member of the European Parliament
00:04from the right-wing Swedish Democrats, the Vice President of the European Conservative
00:08and Reformists, who's been working on this file inside the European Parliament.
00:12The Parliament, of course, will have to greenlight this file and also EU countries,
00:17but it could enter into force as soon as next month.
00:21Good morning, sir. Welcome to Europe Today.
00:23Good morning. Thanks for having me.
00:25So I know we've been debating this here in Brussels for months,
00:27but just remind our viewers what is in this deal,
00:29because some say the measures are rather draconian.
00:31Well, the EU has reached a landmark deal on the return regulation.
00:36That means, for instance, longer detention periods to prevent people from absconding,
00:44firm entry bans that carry real weight, and the legal framework for return hubs.
00:51So, indeed, the era of deportations has begun.
00:55We're moving from words to actual enforcement of our laws and our borders.
01:00But this kind of language would not have been used here in Brussels 10 years ago.
01:04What has changed?
01:06Reality has kicked in, and everyone sees that mass uncontrolled migration cannot continue,
01:13and people demand answers to how we are going to take back control over the migration policy.
01:20And remember, one out of five with a final return decision is going home today.
01:27Hundreds of thousands of people are going into the shadows every year in Europe,
01:33and that needs to stop.
01:34But the mass migration crisis, if you like, was in 2016.
01:37In 2026, the picture is very different, and the numbers of irregular migration are gone down,
01:42if you look at the Frontex.
01:42Well, they have gone down since 2015.
01:45That was a very extreme year.
01:47But the effects, the consequences of years of illegal migration are there.
01:55Just look at Paris this past weekend.
01:57People seized this, and they demand that the EU does something about border control,
02:03does something about returns.
02:05But why do you think this will fix the problem?
02:06Does migration not need an overall, much more holistic approach?
02:09Well, we do have a holistic approach.
02:12For instance, we are stopping asylum shopping, people moving through a range of safe countries
02:18on their way to a destination in a rich country in Europe.
02:21Now we are focusing on helping people in their area.
02:26We are also looking at how to make countries take back their own citizens,
02:32something that has been one of the major obstacles to effective returns through the years.
02:39We are going to use trade, aid, visa policy to get those countries to take back their citizens.
02:47But the Greens, another party in the NGO's civil society, are not happy.
02:50The Greens have said this agreement legalizes return hubs outside the EU.
02:53It gives a green light to the detention of minors and to lifetime entry bans without serious legal grounds.
03:00They say fundamental rights stand at the top of the hierarchy of norms.
03:03Because the EU is meant to be a union of values.
03:05We hear there's so much coming out of Brussels.
03:09A very important value of the European Union is rule of law.
03:13And if we're talking about human rights, that includes the right of Europeans to live in safe societies governed by
03:19the rule of law.
03:20And I wonder why the Greens won't accept the idea of, for instance, terror suspects getting lifetime entry bans.
03:30Why do the Greens want them in Europe?
03:32That's the question.
03:33That's a question for perhaps the ring, our debating show here on Euronews.
03:37Mr. Vimers, thank you so much for being our guest this morning on Europe Today.
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