Oct. 16th, 2021, Mykolas Romeris University Law School Dean Prof. Lyra Jakulevičienė participated in discussions on the the future role of the European Union in the world and in the field of migration. Discussions took place at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France. The debate is part of the "Conference on the Future of the European Union" initiative organized by the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council. On the basis of the discussions, almost 200 citizens of all EU member states, selected for this purpose, are preparing proposals for politicians to consider.

Prof. Jakulevičienė was one of 3 EU experts invited to acquaint and discuss with the citizens of EU member States about measures taken by EU institutions in such areas as migration, emerging challenges and the need for new solutions to solve these challenges. The discussion took place in plenary and in working groups. The debate highlighted that although asylum and the arrival of migrants dominate the EU's political agenda, the numbers of migrants in Europe show that asylum seekers are only a very small part of migration processes in the EU, with the biggest challenges relating to the migrants living in the EU for a long period of time. 

EU citizens were particularly interested in the possibility of empowering EU institutions to address the issue of reception and integration of migrations at the EU level, rather than leaving it to the efforts of national countries alone. Attention has been drawn to the extremely negative presentation of migration issues in many countries. Although Europe will not be able to do without migration now and in the future, especially in the field of labour, questions regarding  the migration situation on the Lithuanian-Polish-Latvian border with Belarus were also unavoidable.

The Conference on the Future of the EU is a unique opportunity to engage the citizens of the EU in the debate and decision-making on our common future. Every citizen can submit proposals for EU reform on a multilingual online platform. More information, What is the Conference on the Future of Europe? - Conference on the Future of Europe (europa.eu)