Italy's foreign minister Enzo Moavero Milanesi on Tuesday called on European Union countries to "urgently" invest more in measures to counter "the root causes" of migration to the bloc, especially from Africa.
The EU's 2021-2027 budget should contain "concrete initiatives aimed at addressing the root causes that trigger many migratory flows," Moavero told a European Affairs Council meeting in Brussels.
Such measures are " an essential component of a true European migration policy that the EU must urgently launch," Moavero said, according to a statement from the Italian foreign ministry.
The 12 member European Community invested twice as much of its economic output (GDP) in development some 25 years ago - especially in that of African countries - compared with current EU levels, he said.
"To invest with real effectiveness in countries from which so many people depart to Europe, higher levels of funding are needed," said Moavero .
When added together, overseas aid investment by individual EU countries is almost 50 times greater than the bloc's, Moavero claimed.
"We therefore need a qualitative leap that requires a proactive reflection on innovative, new resources and financing instruments to fund the EU budget," he stated.
