EU commissioners Dubravka Šuica and Magnus Brunner will meet interior ministers from nine Mediterranean EU countries in Rovinj, Croatia, on Monday, 18 May, to discuss migration, external border management and drug trafficking.
The talks are taking place under the MED9 format — a group made up of Cyprus, France, Greece, Croatia, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Spain and Slovenia — which was set up in 2013 to coordinate on Mediterranean issues, the European Commission informed.
Ministers are expected to exchange views on measures to combat illegal migration and protect the EU’s external border in the Mediterranean.
Discussions will cover implementation of the EU’s Pact on Migration and Asylum, a package of rules on asylum and migration agreed by member states, including a “Solidarity Pool” mechanism referenced by the Commission.
Returns and cooperation with partner countries
The agenda also includes the Commission’s proposal for a “Common European System for Returns” — the EU framework for sending back people who do not have the right to stay — and closer cooperation with partner countries under the Pact for the Mediterranean’s security and preparedness strand, the Commission said.
Readmission cooperation and strengthened external border management, including plans linked to a revised Frontex mandate, will also be discussed. Frontex is the EU’s border agency.
