Summer is the peak season forirregular migration, and thathas in recent years translatedinto bad headlines for the EUabout deaths at sea and harsh

conditions on shore. Over time, if the new European Asylum

Support Office (EASO) succeeds, therewill be less cause for criticism of thereception of migrants. A counterpart tothe EU’s border agency, Frontex, EASO ismandated to help member states improvetheir treatment of migrants and asylum-seekers – as reflected in the creation of aspecial team to help Greece addresspersistent problems in its asylum centres.But the agency, which was established in2010, is still only in its infancy.

How it develops will depend heavily onits director, Robert Visser, a man who hadthe ear of Dutch prime ministers for threedecades. Visser entered public service indiplomacy in the early 1980s, but he wassoon drafted into ministers’ service, firstas the assistant secretary for the DutchCouncil of Ministers and then, in 1986, asa senior adviser to the then primeminister, Ruud Lubbers.

Visser also impressed others with hisstrategic thinking and his finesse as anadviser: he remained as a seniorcounsellor to Lubber’s successors, WimKok and Jan Peter Balkenende – a periodthat stretches from 1986 to 2003 – onsubjects that included constitutionalaffairs, legal affairs, immigration,European and international affairs. in2003, he became deputy secretary-generalin the prime minister’s office, with aportfolio so heavy that it was divided intothree after he left: he was responsible forthe immigration service and also co-ordinated the European and internationalaffairs and the law departments at thejustice ministry.

That is testament to Visser’s capacity forhard work. Regarded as a calm andexcellent manager, he is also praised forhis ability to forge consensus and toinform policy. Close to politicians he mayhave been, but “Rob has always kept hispolitical preference a secret,” says LoesMulder, who succeeded him as director-general for immigration.

Visser sees himself as a behind-the-scenes technocrat offering information-driven advice – and staying out of thepolitics related to it. In this, and otherways, he is the embodiment of a civilservant. Though he has a sophisticatedsense of humour, Visser is not a

Visser, a man used todealing with prime

ministers, he now answersto a management board made up of the heads of 27national authorities, tworepresentatives of theEuropean Commission anda representative of theUN High Commissionerfor Refugees

1954: Born, Franeker1974-80: Master’s degree in law, Groningen

University1974-81: Master’s degree in history,

Groningen University1981: Graduate of the Diplomat School of

the Netherlands1981-83: Diplomat at the Dutch embassy in

Madrid1983-86: Assistant-secretary to the Dutch

Council of Ministers1986-2003: Senior adviser to the prime minister1998-2003: Deputy secretary-general and

senior adviser to the prime minister2003-10: Director-general for legislation,

international affairs and immigration at the justice ministry

2008: PhD in law, Leiden University2010-: Executive director, European

Asylum Support Office, Malta

CURRICULUM VITAE

Commission and a representative of theUN High Commissioner for Refugees. As he puts it, “27 is a large number ofcountries, and a large number of peopleto influence”.

But it is an adjustment for which Visseris well equipped. As well as having been asenior civil servant, he is a student ofgovernment: in 2008, he wrote a doctoralthesis on ministerial responsibility andparliamentary trust and published a bookon the matter. His stated interests includethe machinery of government, as well ashistory and travelling.

EASO’s base, in Malta, is a considerabledistance from the centre of policymaking,Brussels. So Visser spent much of his first year at EASO on a tour ofEuropean capitals, visiting decision-makers, including members of nationalparliaments.

The director of the UNHCR’s Europebureau, Daniel Endres, is full of praise.“Rob has done a remarkable job inbuilding up an EU institution in such ashort time,” he says. Visser is known tohave a very good rapport with thechairman of EASO’s board, StéphaneFratacci, and maintains close ties to theoffice of Cecilia Malmström, theEuropean commissioner for home affairs.

For the time being, logistics dominatesthe agenda. But “one of my ambitions isthat the agency can contribute to thepolicy debate with evidence-based input,”Visser says. “I hope I can bring the agencyto a situation where it can show whatworks and what does not work.”

This effort to turn EASO into apowerhouse of expertise acquired a publicface in Brussels this month, when Visserpresented the first ‘country of origin’report, setting out the EASO’s advice forthe treatment of Afghan asylum requests.The EASO is also developing an ‘earlywarning system’ about migration flows.

But uncertainty lingers about EASO’seventual place in the common Europeanasylum system that the EU hopes to agreethis year. Inevitably, EASO’srecommendations will not please allmember states, and Visser has no power tomake policy. What power he gains will besoft: it will rest with EASO’s managementboard and, essentially, the 27 memberstates, to back efforts to prevent human-rights violations in asylum-seekers’reception centres. Given these obstacles,will Visser succeed in making his agencyindispensable?

Laurens Cerulus

charismatic or domineering figurehead;he can come across as academic ordidactic, says one colleague, and can beshy, says another.

For the Dutch, standards of governanceon Europe’s periphery have been aconcern for years, and when EASO wasset up in 2010, the then Dutch minister ofjustice, Ernst Ballin, suggested Visserapply to be executive director. For EUofficials, Visser was a natural choice for asensitive post in an area that has been apolitical problem child: he had experienceat every level of asylum policy, he was wellknown internationally in asylum andmigration circles, and he had provenorganisational skills.

Visser was keen to take on thechallenge, suggests the current head ofthe Dutch immigration service, Rob vanLint. “His selection was an excitingmoment for Rob, which showed howmuch he wanted this step towards aninternational career.”

What prompted him to apply for thejob, Visser himself says, were thechallenges of making a new beginning ina policy area in which he is passionatelyinterested, and the prospect of creating anagency capable of making a difference toasylum policy.

“His background is defined by humaneand humanistic thinking,” says Lubbers,who has been a UN High Commissionerfor Refugees. “In such a fierce debate, Iam happy that there are people like himaround.” Visser is also a European‘believer’: he has written on Europeanaffairs, and has been involved in EU-related initiatives by the Nexus Institute, athink-tank, and the European Movementin the Netherlands.

There was no easy start for EASO: “Ihad no assistant, no phone, no office andno money,” Visser recalls with a smile. Theagency is still in temporary offices and isstill recruiting: its current 40-strong staffshould double. Meanwhile, EASO has tomake adjustments, because €3 millionwas cut from its projected budget thisyear.

Visser is still acclimatising himself tothe difficulties of filling positions, aprocess involving more bureaucracy thanhe encountered in The Hague. This is notthe only adjustment required of him.

A man used to dealing with primeministers, he now answers to amanagement board made up of the heads of 27 national authorities, tworepresentatives of the European

Migrationmanager

PROFILEROBERT VISSER1212 July 2012