EU pushes on with migrant policy outsourcing plans

European Union leaders are pushing ahead with plans to outsource the bloc’s migration woes by spending billions of euros to boost cooperation with countries that people leave or cross to get to Europe

BRUSSELS -- European Union leaders pushed ahead Thursday with plans to outsource the bloc’s migration policy challenges by spending billions of euros to improve cooperation from countries that people leave or cross when they set out for Europe. Long unable to agree on who should take responsibility for migrants when they come and whether other members of the 27-nation EU should be obliged to help, the leaders focused instead on how to prevent people from arriving in the first place. At their summit in Brussels, they said that “mutually beneficial partnerships and cooperation with countries of origin and transit will be intensified.” No countries were named but the focus is on northern Africa, from where many migrants set out on dangerous voyages across the Mediterranean Sea to seek a better life or sanctuary in Europe. “The approach will be pragmatic, flexible and tailor-made,” the leaders said, and will make use of all available “instruments and incentives” to persuade the countries to cooperate. Their summit statement was prepared by envoys in advance and was subject to almost no discussion Thursday.