EU commissioners Dubravka Šuica and Magnus Brunner met interior ministers from nine Mediterranean EU countries in Rovinj, Croatia, on 18 May to discuss migration, border management and drug trafficking.
The meeting brought together the MED9 group — Cyprus, France, Greece, Croatia, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Spain and Slovenia — a forum set up in 2013 to coordinate on Mediterranean issues, the European Commission informed in a statement on Monday.
Talks centred on tackling illegal migration and protecting the EU’s external border in the Mediterranean, with ministers exchanging views on implementing the EU’s Pact on Migration and Asylum.
The discussions also covered the “Solidarity Pool”, a mechanism linked to the pact, and a Commission proposal for a “Common European System for Returns” — the process for sending people who have no legal right to stay back to their country of origin.
Readmission cooperation with non-EU countries and a revised mandate for Frontex, the EU’s border agency, were also on the agenda.
Plans discussed with partner countries
Cooperation with partner countries under the security and preparedness pillar of the Pact for the Mediterranean was among the topics raised, the Commission said.
Šuica stated the meeting discussed closer work with Mediterranean partners on “migration management, border protection, the fight against organised crime, and security”, including with EU agencies Europol and Frontex.
Brunner revealed that the ministers discussed “the next steps” in delivering reforms to the EU asylum and migration system, including “swifter and more efficient asylum procedures” and closer cooperation with partner countries.
