member state ministers agree on asylum reform

An agreement reached after a day of difficult negotiations. The European Ministers of the Interior found, Thursday, June 8, an agreement on two key aspects of a reform of the migration policy. The latter 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. “These are not easy decisions for everyone around the table, but they are historic decisions”, welcomed the German Minister of the Interior, Nancy Faeser. This green light thus paves the way for talks with the European Parliament, with a view to adopting the reform before the European elections in June 2024.

The European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, for her part, welcomed a “very important step” for the Pact on Asylum and Migration, presented in September 2020. The President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, welcomed a “breakthrough”, emphasizing that his institution was ready to start the talks. Poland and Hungary voted against these proposals, while Bulgaria, Malta, Lithuania and Slovakia abstained, AFP learned from the Swedish presidency of the EU Council, 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 then had to be drawn up, in order to satisfy as many people as possible, and in particular the Mediterranean countries, which are those through which migrants enter the EU.