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Brussels
EU leaders wrapped up their year-end summit on Friday by pointing to progress on migration policy, suggesting theywill stay the course.
Current policies have helped cut arrivals in the European Union sharply since the height of the refugee crisis in 2015-16, EU leaders said in a statement.
They also underscored ongoing efforts to bolster the EU’s external borders and cooperation with third countries, with a view to better managing migrant arrivals.
The drop in arrivals has resulted from member states’ “control of the external borders, the fight against smugglers and cooperation wit countries of origin and transit,” the leaders noted in a statement.
“This policy should therefore be continued, further developed and fully implemented.”
Migration is politically sensitive, and some EU leaders fear it could galvanize populist parties ahead of next year’s European Parliamentelections. More fundamentally, member states disagree on the way forward, notably with regard to long overdue reforms to the EU’s asylum system.
Divisions also continue over plans to expand the EU border and coastguard, known as Frontex. While the European Commission proposed
in September a substantial increase in numbers by 2020, to 10,000, EU leaders recently have conceded this will take more time. Some member states are also worried that Frontex could diminish their sovereign control over borders.
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15/12/2018
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