Years of discussions and final negotiations until the end of the night: MEPs and representatives of the 27 Member States reached an agreement on Wednesday on the reform of the European migration system, strongly denounced by human rights defenders.
The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen welcomed this “historic agreement” on the Migration and Asylum Pact. The President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, said it was “probably the most important legislative agreement of this mandate”.
Germany, France, Spain, Greece and the Netherlands congratulated themselves, as did Italy, for whom the reform allows countries on the front line at the EU borders to “no longer feel alone.”
Conversely, Hungary, opposed to the planned solidarity measures, “forcefully” rejected this agreement, which however only requires a qualified majority to be adopted.
Coincidentally, this breakthrough came shortly after the adoption in France of a controversial law on immigration, which caused a crisis in the camp of President Emmanuel Macron due to the support given to this text by the far right .
The migration pact, presented by the Commission in September 2020, consists of an overhaul of European rules, after the failure of a previous proposal in 2016 in the wake of the refugee crisis.
It provides in particular for reinforced control of migrant arrivals in the EU, centers near the borders to receive and return more quickly those not entitled to asylum and a compulsory solidarity mechanism between member countries for the benefit of subject States. to migratory pressure.
The political agreement obtained on the five texts of this reform will still have to be officially approved by the Council (Member States) and the European Parliament. The aim is final adoption before the European elections in June 2024.
” Dangerous “
If the head of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), Filippo Grandi, welcomed a “very positive step”, the reform on the other hand arouses criticism from human rights organizations .
A group of sea rescue NGOs denounced a “historic failure” which “will cause more deaths at sea”. Amnesty International estimated that the agreement would “increase the suffering” of exiles, with Oxfam calling it a “dangerous dismantling of key principles of human rights and refugee law.” »
“We come out with a text that is worse than the current situation […]. We are going to finance walls, barbed wire, protection systems all over Europe,” lamented French MEP Damien Carême (Greens), denouncing a pact “which shames the most beautiful values of Europe”.
The reform retains the rule currently in force according to which the first country of entry into the EU of an asylum seeker is responsible for his file, with some adjustments. But to help the Mediterranean countries, where many exiles arrive, a compulsory solidarity system is organized.
Other Member States must contribute by taking care of asylum seekers (relocations) or by providing financial support to the country facing migratory pressure.
The reform also provides for “filtering” of migrants upon their arrival and a “border procedure” for those who are statistically the least likely to obtain asylum: they will be held in centers to be able to be returned more quickly to their home country. country of origin or transit.
“Respect for values”
The reform “fully respects our values,” said French MEP Fabienne Keller (Renew Europe, centrists and liberals). She specified that the European Parliament had obtained guarantees in particular on a mechanism for monitoring fundamental rights, and assured that measures restricting freedom alternative to detention were possible within the framework of this procedure.
The Vice-President of the Commission, Margaritis Schinas, was delighted to “see the three big political families behind this agreement”: the EPP (right), the Socialists and Democrats (S&D) and Renew Europe. “Who won’t follow?” The extreme right. It doesn’t bother us,” he said.
Another approved text: a regulation on crisis and force majeure situations, intended to organize a response in the event of a massive influx of migrants into an EU state, such as during the refugee crisis of 2015-2016.
It again provides for compulsory solidarity between Member States and the establishment of an exceptional regime less protective for asylum seekers than the usual procedures, with a possible extension of the duration of detention at the external borders of the Union. .
The EU is currently experiencing an increase in the number of irregular arrivals, as well as asylum applications. Over the first eleven months of 2023, the Frontex agency recorded more than 355,000 crossings of the EU’s external borders, an increase of 17%. Asylum applications could reach more than a million by the end of 2023, according to the EU Asylum Agency (EUAA).