She considers the migration situation in Europe “significantly better” than when she took office in 2019. Irregular migration is down by 40 percent and returns are up by 20 percent in comparison to last year. “It is clear that we have much better control today,” she added.
However, the EU needs to roll up its sleeves to accelerate the returns of rejected asylum-seekers, Johansson said. “The current return legislation is 16 years old. We need new legislation based on what we have agreed in the Pact,” she said.
A proposal to reform the return directive was put forward in 2018 by President Jean-Claude Juncker’s European Commission, but that didn’t go through during Johansson’s mandate. She now expects the incoming executive to draft a fresh proposal.
Johansson said it feels “very good” to hand over the portfolio to Brunner, despite the fact he’s an Austrian conservative from the European People’s Party who faced criticism for his lack of experience in the field and who has expressed openness to establishing return hubs in non-EU countries.
“What political group you belong to is of course important. But personality, commitment and knowledge matter even more,” she said.
Johansson is concerned about Belarus and Russia using migrants as part of a hybrid warfare campaign against Europe and she urged Brunner to come up with “better legislation” to address it.
“I see increasing aggression from the Belarusian side. More and more violence both against migrants and against Polish border guards,” Johansson said.
