By Anne Rovan
Posted 5 hours ago, updated 1 minute ago
“Anyone who wants to meet the challenges of migration can only do so together, in the European Union,” believes Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz. TIZIANA FABI/AFP
DECIDING – The provisions notably provide for the relocation of 30,000 asylum seekers per year to relieve countries on the front lines.
Correspondent in Brussels
At their meeting on Thursday in Luxembourg, the EU interior ministers agreed on the migration and asylum pact that the Commission presented in September 2019. While migratory pressures have increased sharply, Europeans want to adopt real policy in this area ahead of the 2024 European elections. From Rome, where he traveled on Thursday, Chancellor Olaf Scholz called on the ministers to take action. “Anyone who wants to tackle the challenges of migration can only do so together, in the European Union.”
Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson welcomed “an important step” and Swedish Migration Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said that “a historic step” had been taken. Most importantly, this agreement confirms the return of qualified majority voting on these issues, where unanimity had become the norm since the “trauma” of the 2015-2016 migration crisis. On Thursday, 21 member states approved the compromise, four abstained – Bulgaria, Malta, Lithuania and Slovakia – and two voted against – Poland and Hungary. The green light paves the way for negotiations between the Council and the European Parliament.
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The asylum and migration pact was designed as a diptych. On the one hand, the solidarity of the Member States towards the countries on the front lines, on the other hand, the responsibility of these countries, which have long tended not To asylum seekers arriving on their soil. To relieve them, at least 30,000 asylum seekers are relocated to other EU countries every year. The distribution is redefined every year. According to a diplomat, about 4,000 would be welcomed by France, more by Germany. Member States that refuse to accept their “quota” of asylum seekers – in this case Poland and Hungary – have to pay financial compensation of 20,000 euros per rejected person. The Polish Minister of the Interior, Bartosz Grodecki, warned that it was “a fine” that “would not be accepted by the citizens”. In exchange for this solidarity, the countries of first arrival must show more responsibility. “There will be an automatic return of people to these first arrival countries,” said an EU diplomat. The term of responsibility will also be extended from one to two years, with the exception of asylum seekers arriving by sea.
Defended in particular by Paris, Member States will be imposed border procedures for migrants from safe countries, who will therefore not be able to apply for asylum. They will provide quick access to files in absolute terms while keeping an eye on these asylum seekers thanks to the total of 30,000 beds reserved for them across the Union. According to the commission, those 30,000 beds would eventually allow up to 120,000 asylum applications to be processed each year. On the other hand, the ministers failed to agree on the countries to which the rejected asylum seekers should be sent back. Austria, the Netherlands, Italy and Greece called for repatriations to so-called safe third countries on Thursday. It doesn’t matter whether these rejected asylum seekers have local contacts or ties or not. On the other hand, France and Germany in particular are of the opinion that an attachment is necessary, as provided for by international law. It is up to Member States to define the third countries they consider safe and to assess the relevance of the links between the rejected asylum seeker and the intended country of return. Ministers will return to the subject in … a year.