European interior ministers reached an agreement on Thursday on two key aspects of a reform of migration policy, at the end of a day of difficult negotiations which made it possible to overcome resistance, in particular from Italy and Greece. .
The reform provides for a system of solidarity between Member States in the care of refugees, and an accelerated examination of the asylum applications of certain migrants at the borders, in order to return them more easily to their country of origin or transit.
This green light paves the way for talks with the European Parliament, with a view to adopting the reform before the European elections in June 2024.
“These are not easy decisions for everyone around the table, but they are historic decisions,” said German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser.
EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson welcomed a “very important step” for the Asylum and Migration Pact, presented in September 2020.
Poland and Hungary voted against these proposals, while Bulgaria, Malta, Lithuania and Slovakia abstained, we learned from the Swedish Presidency of the Council of the EU, which led the long and complex negotiations.
A little earlier, a dozen member states, including Italy and Greece, had expressed their opposition or their reservations about the proposals on the table. A new compromise text was then drawn up, in order to rally as many people as possible, and in particular the Mediterranean countries, which are the countries through which migrants arrive in the EU.
Italian Minister Matteo Piantedosi showed his satisfaction at having seen “all his proposals” accepted. “We have ruled out the hypothesis that Italy and all member states of first entry would be paid to keep irregular migrants on their territory. Italy will not be the reception center for migrants on behalf of Europe “, he said in a press release.
One of the texts approved by the ministers provides for compulsory but “flexible” solidarity within the EU in the care of asylum seekers. Member States would be required to welcome a certain number of these applicants arriving in an EU country subject to migratory pressure, or failing that to make a financial contribution.
The planned financial compensation is around 20,000 euros for each asylum seeker who is not relocated. These sums would be paid into a fund managed by the Commission and intended to finance projects linked to the management of migration.
The other text endorsed by the ministers obliges the Member States to implement an accelerated procedure for examining asylum applications – 12 weeks maximum – in centers located at the borders, for migrants who have statistically the least chance to be granted refugee status.
This is the case, for example, of nationals “from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Senegal, Bangladesh and Pakistan”, commented the Belgian Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration. , Nicole deMoor.
The objective is to facilitate the return of these migrants to their country of origin or transit.
Italy and Greece, as well as other countries, claimed to be able to return migrants whose right to asylum has been rejected to “safe” third countries through which they have transited, even in the absence of other links (family , work…) between the migrant and this country. An idea that met with hostility from Germany. The compromise provides that it is up to the Member States to assess whether simple transit constitutes a sufficient link.
The German minister had demanded that “families with young children should not be subject to the border procedure”. This provision, which was defended by a minority of member states, is only included in the appendix to the text.
French Minister Gérald Darmanin, who had to leave the meeting hastily in the morning after a knife attack in Annecy (east), had estimated that “all is not perfect” in the proposals. “But it is by making this compromise that we will manage to be more effective and above all to bring the European Union to life,” he declared.
The question of the reform of the asylum system has returned to the top of the agenda of the 27, with an increase in the arrival of migrants in the Union since the end of the pandemic and while some four million Ukrainians have taken refuge in the EU. The trend is towards an increasingly restrictive migration policy, in a context where the far right has recently won electoral success in several member countries.
08/06/2023 23:26:43 – Luxembourg (AFP) © 2023 AFP
