18 October 2018•Update: 19 October 2018
By Serife Cetin and Yusuf Hatip
BRUSSELS
Wrapping up a summit in the bloc’s capital Brussels on Thursday, EU leaders focused on migration, internal security, and external relations.
“While the number of detected illegal border crossings into the EU has been brought down by 95 percent from its peak in October 2015, some internal and recent external flows warrant sustained attention,” the statement of the summit's conclusions said.
The statement highlighted the importance of “strengthening cooperation with countries of origin and transit,” especially in North Africa, in order to prevent illegal migration.
Urging cooperation with third countries in the fight against human-smuggling networks, it said: “A joint task force should be established at Europol's European Migrant Smuggling Centre.”
It also called on member states to better implement existing readmission agreements, adding that “additional efforts are needed to fully implement the EU-Turkey Statement” of March 2016.
That month, the EU and Turkey reached an agreement to stop irregular migration through the Aegean Sea, and improve the conditions of Syrian refugees in Turkey.
Turkey hosts nearly 3.6 million Syrian refugees -- more than any other country -- according to data from refugee groups and international organizations.
Internal security
“The EU will further strengthen its deterrence and resilience against hybrid, cyber, as well as chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) threats,” said the statement, citing the Salisbury poisoning case in Britain this March.
In that case, former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter were admitted to a hospital after being found unconscious in the city of Salisbury. They have both since been discharged.
“Negotiations on the EU civil protection mechanism proposal should be concluded by the end of the year,” it said, referring to a mechanism to strengthen the EU’s crisis management capacity.
External relations
Touching on the importance of EU-African relations “in a rapidly changing global landscape,” it said cooperation should be taken to a new level.
“The European Council welcomes the holding of the forthcoming first summit between the 28 EU Member States and the League of Arab States, hosted by Egypt on 24-25 February 2019,” it said.
The summit conclusions also said global emission reductions are crucial in all sectors and that “further action is needed in mitigation and adaptation, notably to reach the temperature goal as set out in the [2016] Paris Agreement.”
