Much of your career has been focused on migration and asylum. Has this always been an area that you felt was particularly sensitive politically?
Indeed, I am counting almost 30 years of my professional career, and I have dedicated most of it to working on migration and asylum files, both at an EU and national level in my home country of Slovenia. There is no denying that it is an area which evokes a lot of emotions and is therefore inevitably also politically divisive. It has always been the case, although in recent years I feel that it has become much more evident.
It has meant that I have had to learn to balance many competing interests in my work. On one hand you have legal obligations, such as those underpinning EU and international law, while on the other you have equally important considerations, such as political policies, security, social and economic order.
One thing I have learnt over the years is that it is not constructive to be dismissive of the criticism of many citizens towards migration and asylum, especially the ones having legitimate concerns, which can be addressed through transparency, better communication and proofs of concrete actions.
Today, the main European bodies and institutions are led by women. Does this, in a way, set an example to the business community of women’s ability to lead and that women should be given the same opportunities as men to advance in their careers?
It is not a title which makes a leader. Leadership is about character, charisma and the ability to inspire and bring out the best in the people. In my view “leadership”, as such, should be gender neutral.
On a personal level, I think the EU Institutions are setting a good example. Two out three main EU Institutions are led by women, as are a majority of the EU’s Justice and Home Affairs agencies. This is exactly what the EU’s Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025 intended, and the 2022 Directive on improving gender balance among directors of listed companies is another important step forward.
At a time when human rights seem, once again, to be very much at stake, particularly for women, what impact does the position of the European Union, led in several areas by women, have on how citizens understand and prioritize the importance of preserving the rights already achieved?
It is true that we live in times where many hard-fought rights are being threatened. This not only applies to women, but to many other parts of our democracies as well. At the same time, Europeans are very lucky to live on a continent where not only do we have legal protection for the rights of everyone, but also many examples of female leaders for young girls to look up to and to inspire them.
Working in the field of asylum, one sees the horrible state of women’s rights in many other parts of the world. The EU serves as a beacon for activists and women in so many countries, and by continuing to improve our own practices we also hopefully have a positive impact on the world.
In the European Union, the European Asylum Support Office only became operational in 2011 and was recently replaced by the European Union Agency for Asylum, created in 2022. What impact has the creation of these two institutions had on the way the European Union deals with migration and asylum issues?
I am biased, but I think it is difficult to understate the impact that our Agency has had on the “Europeanisation” of asylum management. We progressed from a small support office in 2011 (EASO) to now becoming one of the EU’s largest agencies.
We provide indispensable operational and technical support to Member State asylum and reception authorities, sometimes making the difference between being overwhelmed or not. From the 2015-2017 migration ‘crisis’ to the millions of Ukrainian arrivals in 2022, the Agency has played and ever-more pivotal role. The efficiencies, harmonisation of practices and fairness in asylum processes have benefitted immensely, and while there is still a lot to do, we should not forget where we started.
Indeed, one of the main problems the EUAA now faces is that we struggle to keep up with the requests from Member States and the EU Institutions. Nevertheless, we remain very ambitious, such as the recent launch of the EUAA Asylum Academy, and our large programme to assist with the new EU Pact on Migration and Asylum.
What is the fundamental role of the European Union Agency for Asylum within the European Commission, on the one hand, and in relation to those it serves, on the other?
The EUAA is actually a separate entity from the European Commission. Our main stakeholders are the national authorities of Member States; they are our ‘clients’. The European Commission, who we work very closely with of course, leads policy decision-making and enforces EU law, whereas we support Member States in implementing it.
The ultimate vision of the EUAA, and indeed of the EU’s Common European Asylum System – which I would add is the only multinational asylum system in the world – is the harmonisation of the way in which international protection is managed throughout the EU. The end goal is an equal treatment for an asylum seeker if she/he applies in Portugal, Germany or any other Member State.
Considering the period that Europe (and the world) is going through, is it even more important today for migrants and asylum seekers to have a specific institution they can turn to?
More than a specific institution that they can turn to, I think that what is important is that the system that they are seeking protection within – be it in the EU or elsewhere – is fair, efficient and predictable.
Our job is to help create this system in Europe. Despite the instability in the world, the majority of asylum applicants in the EU do not actually merit protection; less than half (42%) received positive decisions last year. What this means is that if procedures are slow and inefficient, not only are public resources being wasted, but those who genuinely need protection are having their uncertainty extended by people whose claims are not legitimate.
The EU’s revised asylum laws – which we call the Pact on Migration and Asylum – are specifically aimed at addressing these issues, and the ultimate benefactors will be both genuine asylum seekers as well as EU citizens.
