Thank you all!

Now that all the negotiations are finished, EuroNews would like to express its gratitude and give a BIG thank you to all the participants present at the summit for reaching a Common European Migration Policy.

The first should and do go to the Game Directors and The General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union, Secretary-General of the Council of the European Union, Uwe Corsepius, and Chef de Cabinet of the Secretary-General, Marek Mora. They have done an incredible job and had managed to deal with all unforeseen  situations that occurred along the summit (in Rumsfeld’s famous words, “the unknown unknowns”). Not only did they fulfill every need, but also in a timely and accurate fashion. We know they’ve been through tough times in the last few days, because all the eyes and complaints were directed to them.

However, we have to mention that at the beginning we were sceptical, especially as the press were the last invited. It went so far, that the editor-in-chief publicly voiced concerns over transparency within the EU’s procedures, and plans were in the offing for the press simply to focus on other topics, avoiding the very late invitation. Initial working conditions were unfortunately far from optimal with a press room without working sockets – unacceptable in our digital world. But the press always finds a way to publish. And after all, everybody can make mistakes, as witnessed by the slip-up by German Minister for the Interior, Hans-Peter Friedrich in own speech at the Press Conference of the JHA Commission. Thus the world goes on with the Commission refusing to open up to journalists, and the press making typos which can lead to sometimes humorous misunderstandings.

We also appreciate the diplomatic presence of Danish Presidency throughout the weekend, striving to reaching an agreement. We could observe the tension and the real pressure in air on the first day of negotiations, and also the curiosity that rose about the real cause of the locked doors on Saturday. Even though, at the end of the game, some voices were unsatisfied with the quality of our journalism, we would say we tried present the real picture of how meetings, lobbying and socializing played out. More than that, we appreciate the serious PR strategies especially of some of the game players.

Our last words are full of respect and appreciation for the entire Game of the 23-25 March 2012.