Ursula von der Leyen on Immigration
TL;DR
Ursula von der Leyen advocates for managing migration through creating legal pathways while simultaneously cracking down on irregular arrivals and smugglers.
Key Points
She emphasized the need to triple funding for migration and border management in the next EU budget as of September 2025.
The President announced plans to destroy the business model of people smugglers through targeted sanctions and asset freezing.
Her Commission delivered on the New Pact on Migration and Asylum, which is based on solidarity, responsibility, and human rights, with entry into force planned for June 2026.
Summary
Ursula von der Leyen emphasizes a dual approach to migration management, focusing on both bolstering legal avenues for skills-based migration and rigorously combating irregular flows. She has promoted the idea of opening up safer, legal routes to Europe for economic migrants who possess in-demand skills, connecting European employers with non-European job seekers through new talent partnerships. This focus is presented as a way to preempt dangerous irregular journeys organized by human traffickers and address European labor shortages by attracting needed workforce in an orderly manner.
Simultaneously, her Commission has stressed firm action against irregular migration, including destroying the business model of smugglers through sanctions and asset freezing. A key component of this strategy is ensuring the full implementation of the Pact on Migration and Asylum, which includes measures for quicker processing and return of rejected asylum seekers, with only about 20% of those not allowed to stay currently leaving the Union. Critics argue that this focus on enforcement is too superficial and ignores the deeper, unsustainable realities driving people to leave their homes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Ursula von der Leyen supports a balanced approach to migration, advocating for the creation of legal pathways to bring in needed skills while simultaneously enacting tougher measures against irregular migration and human smuggling operations. She views managed legal migration as a way to counter both humanitarian crises and economic needs.
The focus appears to have evolved, with a stronger recent emphasis on proactively creating legal work permits for economic migrants to manage flows, rather than solely focusing on border security and returns. However, the general framework of the Pact on Migration and Asylum remains a core, consistent policy.
She has made dismantling the business model of smugglers a key priority, insisting that people smuggling is a criminal business that must be fought with sanctions specifically targeted to freeze their assets and restrict their movement. She stated that every journey avoided through a safer, legal route potentially saves a life.
Sources5
State of the Union: President von der Leyen addresses migration and security
European leaders meet to discuss stricter migration policies
The EU's message on migration is wrong and short-sighted - Friends of Europe
Von der Leyen opens up to economic migrants: “Let's bring skills to Europe”
* This is not an exhaustive list of sources.