Under discussion for three years, this reform aims to overhaul European migration policy. But Hungary and Poland refuse any solidarity mechanism.
Irregular immigration needs a “European response”, declared Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, Sunday September 17, in Lampedusa. In a few days, the population of the Italian island doubled, faced with the arrival of tens of thousands of exiles from North Africa. Faced with the situation, the head of the European executive unveiled an emergency plan to help Rome and called on European partners for solidarity.
On Wednesday, during her annual speech on the state of the European Union, Ursula von der Leyen had already urged member states to bring to fruition the pact on migration and asylum, negotiations for which have been slipping for three years. Presented in September 2020 by the Commission, this package of measures aims to overhaul the EU’s migration policy and deal with emergency situations. But several countries are opposed to it, while requests for asylum are increasing.
Increased solidarity
To date, European migration policy is based on the Dublin III text. It provides for refugees to apply for asylum in the first EU country they reach. But this regulation has the consequence of placing asylum requests on the countries of southern Europe through which migrants from the Middle East, Asia or Africa arrive. Conversely, before the war in Ukraine, the countries of Eastern Europe welcomed very few refugees, recalls the specialized site Touteleurope.eu, founded by France and the European Commission.
The pact on migration and asylum therefore aims to rebalance this situation since it stipulates “that no Member State should be imposed a disproportionate responsibility”, summarizes the European Commission on its site. The country responsible for the asylum request can now be the one where a migrant has family ties, where he has worked or studied, or the State which issued him a visa. But countries of first arrival will remain responsible for applying for asylum if no other EU member takes care of it.
In the event of a crisis, Brussels will also be able to trigger a mandatory but “flexible” “solidarity mechanism” involving all member states. They will have the choice between three options: welcoming some of the asylum seekers with financial support from the EU, “sponsoring” the return of irregular migrants to their country of origin, by negotiating directly with the State in question or by financing this return, or helping the State under “pressure” to welcome asylum seekers, details the European Commission.
The objective is for at least 30,000 asylum seekers to be relocated each year from front-line countries to countries less exposed to arrivals, specifies the Vie-publique.fr website. In the event of refusal of relocation, Member States will have to pay financial compensation of 20,000 euros per migrant they refuse to welcome.
“Filtering” at the borders
The pact also provides for an accelerated procedure for examining asylum applications via a border “filtering” system. This process aims to determine within five days whether the applicant should be subject to a return procedure, for example whether they have already been refused asylum, or whether they can actually apply. . It will include identification, health and security checks and even fingerprinting, the text specifies. This filtering will also concern people who, although not meeting the conditions for entry into the EU, have been rescued at sea or have been arrested on European territory and have escaped controls at external borders, specifies the European Commission.
On the other hand, migrants whose asylum procedure is deemed admissible after “screening”, but who are unlikely to obtain it (when less than 20% of nationals from this country actually obtain asylum within the EU), will have to follow a special application procedure at the border, recalls the Touteleurope.eu website. This is the case, for example, of nationals “from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Senegal, Bangladesh and Pakistan”, commented Nicole de Moor, the Belgian Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration, in June. The objective is thus to facilitate the return of these migrants to their country of origin or transit.
A refusal from Poland and Hungary
After tough negotiations, European interior ministers managed to reach an agreement on these two key parts of the pact – the solidarity mechanism and the “filtering” procedure – on June 8, 2023. Initially, Italy demanded that migrants whose right to asylum be rejected could be returned to countries “safe” through which they transited, even if there is no particular link between the migrant and this country, but Germany was hostile to this idea. The compromise finally provides that it is up to the Member States to assess whether simple transit constitutes a sufficient referral link, specifies The cross.
In total, 21 countries, including France, voted for the text. LBulgaria, Lithuania, and Slovakia abstained while Poland and Hungary voted against. After the 2015-2016 crisis, during which Europe welcomed more than a million exiles, Warsaw and Budapest had already refused to apply the refugee quotas decided by the EU. “It is not a migration pact, it is a diktat which aims to change European culture”declared nationalist Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.
Poland currently hosts more than a million Ukrainian refugees and the authorities have always been opposed to the relocation of migrants who arrived in Greece or Italy. Warsaw also denounces the financial compensation of 20,000 euros imposed on States which do not want to take care of migrants. It is “a fine” who will not “not accepted by citizens”warned the Polish Minister of the Interior, quoted by Le Figaro. A few months before the legislative elections, the Polish nationalist government has made immigration its campaign theme and it intends to hold a referendum on the subject.
The head of the Italian government Giorgia Meloni, whose country is on the front line of immigration with Greece, however said “very satisfied” of this compromise. “We will never reach consensus on the internal dimension”that is to say solidarity between Member States in welcoming asylum seekers, she admitted. “The only thing we can have consensus on is joint work on the external dimension”or cooperation with the countries of origin and transit of migrants, she added.
A vote of the Twenty-Seven criticized
On June 30, during a European summit in Brussels, Poland and Hungary also denounced qualified majority voting (rrequiring a favorable vote from 15 out of 27 countries, representing at least 65% of the total EU population) to adopt the measures of this pact. “We have previously agreed on several occasions that, as the issue of migration deeply divides us, we can only accept a rule if we all agree”, argued Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. But the use of qualified majority “is in the treaties” Europeans, retorted the head of the Spanish government Pedro Sánchez, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the EU until December 31.
Despite this progress, on July 26, member states were unable to agree on the last part of the pact relating to crisis situations, report The echoes. Some states, such as the Czech Republic or Austria, considered that they had not had the necessary time to examine it. For its part, Germany did not support this component, because it wants special care for minors, specifies The world.
Nine months before the European elections, negotiations are continuing between MEPs and representatives of member states to find a final compromise. “Let’s show that Europe can manage migration effectively and compassionately. Let’s finish the job!”ordered Ursula Von der Leyen on September 13. “An agreement on the pact has never been closer. Parliament and the Council have a historic opportunity to make it happen.”