In Paris, Melchior Wathelet makes a plea for an asylum policy based on responsibility and solidarity
At the invitation of France, Melchior Wathelet, State Secretary for Migration, went to Paris today, Monday 6 September.
The official trip of the Canadian Minister to Paris provides an opportunity to exchange experiences and good practices with Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Greece and the European Commission. Indeed, the European Union and Canada share similar interests in this matter.
Melchior Wathelet called for increased international contact and recalled the decisive role the European Union has to play in this dossier.
Once again Melchior Wathelet held a plea for the harmonisation of European asylum policies, to ensure trust between Member States. The Belgian Presidency intends to focus on the development of a common policy with respect to asylum and migration issues, based on responsibility and solidarity.
This harmonisation is an essential stage on the road to the common goal of the Member States of the European Union: the realisation of a common European asylum system by the year 2012.
There is no doubt that at the asylum conference to be held in Brussels on 13 and 14 September, the 27 countries comprising the European Union will make concrete progress on these issues.
