Jeroen Lenaers (PPE). – Madam President, I am confused. I listened to the Commissioner from our socialist colleagues having a very constructive and balanced approach to migration, doing more to counter illegal migration, working harder to improve returns – an agenda that was embraced also by the European Council last week, including all the socialist leaders there. And then I listened to the leader of the socialists in this House, and I only hear, 'No, no, no. It's all extreme right.' Is Ms Dalli extreme right all of a sudden? Is Prime Minister Sánchez extreme right? Let's embrace the fact that leaders actually from left‑wing to right‑wing governments, from east to west and north to south, came together on an idea that more commitments are necessary.

Indeed, returns are down. Arrivals have been down in recent years because of the very agreements with third countries that you so fiercely opposed in this House.

So yes, this is not about burying the pact. It is about implementing the pact, but also realising that more is necessary. As President von der Leyen wrote, we cannot be complacent. The pact is a huge achievement, but we need to do more, especially on returns. One in five people who were told to return actually go back to their country of origin. In 2023, this was 350 000 people.

Also, for the colleagues on the left, if we want to keep public support, if we want to keep resources to take care of real refugees, we need to improve this and we need to do it together in a spirit of compromise. So let's put new ideas on the table. Like the Council said, let's dare to think outside the box and let's do it quickly.