McEntee joins EU counterparts in first informal meeting

Helen McEntee

The meeting was held in an informal format on Monday and Tuesday and was the first meeting of EU ministers under Germany’s presidency of the EU, which began on 1 July 2020.

Speaking after the meeting, Ms McEntee said she welcomed the “desire to strengthen the fight against hate speech, and disinformation, at an EU level” and the discussion on search and rescue at sea.

“Since the start of the migration crisis in 2015, Ireland has shown solidarity in relieving the pressure on frontline states, and we will continue to do so,” she said.

“The EU is based on the foundation of solidarity and any future mechanism introduced to deal with the situation in the Mediterranean Sea should reflect this.”

The discussions “demonstrated that a large number of member states share an ambition to work towards achieving a long-term, viable solution to the challenges presented by irregular migration”, she said.

“There is a pressing need to make progress on this important issue and I welcome the Commission’s forthcoming proposals for a Pact on Migration and Asylum.”

The meeting also included a discussion on how member states have dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic and a discussion on the European Police Partnership, where ministers discussed how law enforcement cooperation could be improved.