No way to fight terrorism and solve refugee and Greek crises without the EU

"The European Commission has now made bold proposals to improve the safeguarding of our external borders. This is how we will protect the Schengen area and freedom of movement in Europe. The EPP Group strongly supports this ambitious path", said Manfred Weber MEP, Chairman of the EPP Group, during the plenary debate on the upcoming European Council meeting. "Frontex should therefore be adapted to become a real European border and coast guard."

“When they talk about Europe, citizens are worried. But we need to look at the facts, and also underline all that has been achieved in 2015”, continued Weber.

“On the fight against terrorism: much needed legislation on PNR, on the Europol mandate has been put forward.

On the refugee crisis: in 2015, we have seen thousands of people drowning in the Mediterranean, but now maritime services from all over Europe have been deployed and are acting to save these people, and Europeans now have a robust mandate to step up the fight against traffickers.

On the Greek crisis: it is thanks to Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker that Greece has been retained in the Eurozone and that we are giving the Greek people a stable prospect for their future.

On Ukraine: Europe was united and spoke with one voice to decide on the extension of sanctions to Russia.

On the fight against climate change: with the success of the Paris Climate Conference, we Europeans are showing the example to the world on the fight against climate change!

On data protection: big multinationals such as Google and Facebook are trying to impose their own standards but we have agreed on European rules on data protection to protect European citizens!

Finally, growth is coming back in Europe, with a 2% growth rate in the Euro area."

"Europe has achieved a lot in 2015! This is what we need to explain to citizens. And to all Member States, I say: sovereignty is important, Member States should be strong, but we need to stand together because in this way, we are stronger", concluded Manfred Weber.