During the closing press conference of the Southern European Union Countries (MED9) summit in Portoroz, Slovenia, Luís Montenegro emphasized the importance of immigration for the social and economic cohesion of the European Union (EU), describing it as an “economic competitiveness factor,” while stressing the need for regulation.
“We need labor. But we can only allocate good human resources to our economy if we have regulated immigration, if our borders have the control we need to integrate well, to give hope to those seeking a work opportunity in Europe, and not to promote illegal immigration,” he argued.
The Prime Minister also stated that illegal immigration should result in “the return of those who arrive in Europe” to their country of origin and called for “combatting illegal networks and organized mafias that are trafficking human beings.”
Montenegro noted that the southern EU countries present at the summit “very much agree on the need to implement immigration pacts,” adding that this “will increase economic competitiveness by absorbing the labor we need into the job market, with consequences for those who violate these rules.”
The Prime Minister reiterated that the EU needs to advance with the Savings and Investment Union and a single capital market, highlighting the importance of mobilizing private resources to meet the investment needs of the European Union.
The head of the executive also addressed the EU’s “excessive dependency and high energy prices,” which he believes hinder the bloc’s “ability to be competitive” and assert its independence internationally, advocating for a diversification of markets in response to Europe’s energy challenges.
Luís Montenegro stated that the EU “needs to be more competitive energy-wise,” emphasizing that there is productive capacity, particularly in green energy, and that Europe “cannot delay fulfilling interconnection projects” and linking to other geographic areas such as North Africa.
The Government leader further argued that the European bloc needs to “create more wealth to strengthen its social cohesion and respond to its citizens’ main aspirations,” to be more competitive, fulfill the investment plan in security and defense, and overcome the impacts of climate change.
“To create more wealth, we cannot waste much more time fulfilling the objectives that are set, for which we basically agree, but which we delay in executing,” he added.
