European Union flags flutter outside the EU headquarters in Brussels July 15, 2021. (CNS photo/Yves Herman, Reuters) The president of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE), Bishop Mariano Crociata, expressed the commission’s view on the new “Return Regulation” approved June 17 by the European Parliament.
The new regulation aims to unify and streamline procedures for the expulsion of individuals in an irregular situation (who are illegally present) within the European Union, strengthening cooperation among member states and facilitating returns to ensure the effectiveness of the common migration system.
While acknowledging the legitimate responsibility of public authorities to manage migration, ensure border integrity, and combat human trafficking, the president of COMECE expressed “deep concern” regarding certain aspects of the new regulation.
Speaking on behalf of the Church in the EU, he noted that the extension of detention, limitations on legal remedies, and the increasing externalisation of responsibilities to third countries raise “serious ethical and humanitarian questions” and could undermine “effective protection of fundamental rights and the dignity of vulnerable persons.”
Crociata warned that migration “is not merely a matter of procedures, statistics, or border management” but rather affects human beings “with an inviolable dignity that must remain at the center of every policy decision.”
In response to Pope Leo XIV’s call not to remain indifferent to the suffering of migrants, Crociata noted that the EU “was founded on the conviction that human dignity is inviolable” and therefore urged that migration and asylum policies respect that dignity.
The commission also reiterated that “security and solidarity are not opposing principles” but rather “must advance together” and appealed to the affected countries’ responsibility “to address the root causes that force people to migrate and to protect those who are on the move.”
Furthermore, Crociata insisted that everyone has “the right to seek protection when life is threatened” as well as the right “not to be forced to leave their homeland because of war, persecution, poverty, corruption, or environmental collapse.”
Crociata pointed out that the vote held on June 17 concerns not only migration policy but also raises “a broader question about the kind of Europe we wish to build.”
“At this decisive moment, Europe is called not to retreat from its founding values but to reaffirm them with courage, wisdom, and humanity,” he stated.