In a debate with Commissioner Johansson and the Croatian Presidency of the Council, a majority of speakers criticised Turkish President Erdoğan for using people’s suffering for political purposes. Many also underlined that the 2015 refugee crisis should not be repeated and insisted that the EU needs to update its common rules on asylum.

Some political group leaders called for a revision of the deal with Turkey, which was hammered out in 2016 to stem the flow of migrants and asylum-seekers in exchange for EU financial aid. Others showed deep concern about the deteriorating humanitarian situation both at the border with Turkey and on the Greek islands, where thousands of asylum-seekers, many of them unaccompanied minors, are stranded.

The need to respect the Geneva Convention and offer protection to refugees, the allegations about police violence against people attempting to cross the border and the risk that jihadists could be entering EU territory were also raised during the discussion.

You can catch up with the debate.

Due to the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the Conference of Presidents (EP President and political leaders) modified the European Parliament’s calendar of activities for the next weeks due to force majeure. The aim is to enable Parliament to exercise its core functions (legislative and budgetary powers, as well as plenary sessions and meetings of governing bodies of the institution), while complying with the duty of care for its Members and staff and with a view to protect public health.

Approved changes

The April part-session initially scheduled from Monday 30 March until Thursday 2 April will take place in Brussels on Wednesday 1 April in the afternoon and Thursday 2 April in the morning.

All activities scheduled for the week starting on 16 March will be postponed or cancelled. The week starting with 23 March stays unchanged.

“Better no agreement than a bad agreement”, MEPs stress, considering the recent EU summit which ended with member states still not being able to agree on a common position on the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF 2021-2027). They urged the Commission to table a contingency plan in view of the delay that the next long-term budget will inevitably face, in order to protect beneficiaries such as farmers, cities, regions, students, researchers, business and NGOs across Europe.

After European Council President Charles Michel acknowledged the failure of the 20-21 February budget summit in plenary, MEPs criticised the proposal on the table of the member states, saying it would make the EU “irrelevant”. They called the proposal “scandalous”, especially in view of the current crisis at the Greek border and the COVID-19 emergency, as Michel had proposed cuts to migration and research programmes, among other cuts.

Find the links to the debates’ speeches here.

Today, the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) published a Country of Origin Information (COI) report titled “Syria: Targeting of individuals“. This report is part of a series of Syria reports produced in 2019-2020. These reports cover actors of protection, internal mobility, key socio-economic indicators, and targeting of individuals. The reports provide information relevant for international protection status determination for Syrian asylum seekers, and will be used in the development of a country guidance note on Syria.

In 2019, Syrians lodged some 72 254 asylum applications in the EU+, more or less on par with 2018, but fewer than two years ago. Almost two thirds of all Syrian applications were lodged in just two EU+ countries. Despite the overall stable trend, Syrians lodged increasing numbers of applications throughout 2019: between February and May 2019, Syrians lodged about 5 300 applications each month, but this rose to 6 300 between July and September, and again to 7 200 in October and November. In fact, as of October the inflow (applications lodged) exceeded the outflow (case closures) each month, for the first time since mid-2018. Consequently, the number of pending cases also increased towards the end of the year. Of all first-instance decisions issued for Syrian applicants, 85% were positive mostly granting refugee status.

The report, EASO COI Report: Syria – Targeting of individuals, provides relevant information regarding a range of categories of individuals in Syria targeted by different state and non-state actors, or by the wider society, for the purpose of international protection status determination, and in particular for use in EASO’s country guidance development on Syria.

The report was co-drafted by Country of Origin Information (COI) researchers from Germany, the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF), Country Analysis, together with the EASO COI sector in accordance with the EASO COI Report Methodology, and was reviewed by the Finnish Immigration Service, Legal Service and Country Information Unit. Additionally, ACCORD, the Austrian Centre for Country of Origin and Asylum Research and Documentation conducted an external review.

Additional information to complement this report can be found in the following EASO reports:

Photo: © European Union/Peter Biro

Responding to this paper

ESMA invites comments on all matters in this paper and in particular on the specific questions summarised in Annex 1. Comments are most helpful if they:

1. respond to the question stated;
2. indicate the specific question to which the comment relates;
3. contain a clear rationale; and
4. describe any alternatives ESMA should consider.

ESMA will consider all comments received by 17 May 2020.

All contributions should be submitted online at www.esma.europa.eu under the heading ‘Your input – Consultations’.

Publication of responses

All contributions received will be published following the close of the consultation, unless you request otherwise. Please clearly and prominently indicate in your submission any part you do not wish to be publicly disclosed. A standard confidentiality statement in an email message will not be treated as a request for non-disclosure. A confidential response may be requested from us in accordance with ESMA’s rules on access to documents. We may consult you if we receive such a request. Any decision we make not to disclose the response is reviewable by ESMA’s Board of Appeal and the European Ombudsman.

Data protection

Information on data protection can be found at www.esma.europa.eu under the heading ‘Data protection’.

Who should read this paper?

This document will be of interest to all stakeholders involved in the securities markets. It is primarily of interest to competent authorities and firms that are subject to MiFID II and MiFIR – in particular, investment firms and credit institutions performing investment services and activities and trading venues. This paper is also important for trade associations and industry bodies, institutional and retail investors and their advisers, and consumer groups, as well as any market participant because the MiFID II and MiFIR requirements seek to implement enhanced provisions to ensure the transparency and orderly running of financial markets with potential impacts for anyone engaged in the dealing with or processing of financial instruments.