The European Union reaches agreement on a vast reform of migration policy

It will still have to be formally ratified by the European Council, which brings together the leaders of the 27 member states, as well as by the Parliament.

On Wednesday December 20, the European Parliament and the Member States reached an agreement in principle on the reform of European migration policy. More than three years after the presentation of this project by the Commission, it took intense negotiations to reach this compromise on the “Pact on Migration and Asylum”, the details of which will still have to be finalized.

This reform must still be formally ratified by the European Council, which brings together the leaders of the 27 member states, and the Parliament. The objective is a final adoption of all the texts before the European elections in June 2024, while the question of immigration monopolizes the political debate in many countries, against a backdrop of the rise of the far right. Franceinfo summarizes the key points of the agreement for you.

“Filtering” of migrants upon entry

The agreement provides for compulsory screening prior to the entry of a migrant into the European Union, near the external borders. According to the text, identification and security checks can last up to seven days. At the end of this maximum period, the person is directed towards an asylum procedure or returned to their country of origin or transit.

Countries of arrival are responsible for entering the fingerprints, facial images and identity documents of asylum seekers and migrants into the Eurodac database. The scope of this database has been expanded and should now apply to children from the age of six.

Closed centers near the borders

Asylum seekers who are statistically less likely to obtain refugee status will be referred to a “border procedure”. These are nationals of countries for which the rate of recognition of this status is, on average in the EU, less than 20%, such as Morocco, Tunisia or Bangladesh.

These asylum seekers will be forced to stay in dedicated detention centers, near borders or airports, while their procedure is examined. Member States plan that at EU level, some 30,000 places will be created in these dedicated centers, in order to ultimately welcome up to 120,000 migrants per year.

The European Council insisted that even families with children under 12 should be covered by such a procedure, as well asunaccompanied minors “posing a security risk” (without giving more details on what this term covers). The European Parliament, however, obtained guarantees on a mechanism for monitoring fundamental rights in these border procedures, on the reception conditions of families with young children and on access to free legal advice for migrants, said French MEP Fabienne Keller (Renew), rapporteur of one of the texts.

A system of solidarity between States

The new system maintains the general principle in force according to which the first country of entry into the European Union of an asylum seeker is responsible for examining their file. However, a new criterion is added, according to which the European country issuing a diploma is responsible for processing the asylum application of its holder.

While the first country of entry rule places a greater burden on those in southern Europe, a mandatory solidarity mechanism is introduced to relieve member states facing migratory pressure. Other countries must then contribute, either by welcoming asylum seekers via “relocations”through financial assistance, or by providing human or material resources.

The European Council plans at least 30,000 relocations per year of asylum seekers from countries under migratory pressure. The financial compensation provided is 20,000 euros for each asylum seeker not relocated.

A settlement in the event of a migration crisis

One of the texts of the reform provides for a response in the event of a massive and exceptional influx of migrants into an EU state, as during the 2015-2016 crisis. It provides, here again, for the rapid triggering of a solidarity mechanism in favor of the State concerned, and the establishment of an exceptional regime less protective for asylum seekers than the usual procedures.

It also extends the possible duration of detention of a migrant at the EU’s external borders. It also allows faster and simplified asylum application examination procedures for a larger number of exiles, in order to be able to send them back more easily.

A return to “safe third countries”

A Member State may take into account the notion of “safe third country” to return an asylum seeker there following the accelerated border procedure. It will thus be able to judge a file inadmissible because the applicant passed through a third country considered to be “on”, where he could have filed a request for protection. However, there must be a “link” sufficient between the person concerned and this third country, specifies the agreement reached on Wednesday.