The European Parliament and the Permanent Representatives of the Czech Republic, Sweden, Spain, Belgium and France have agreed to approve the Migration and Asylum Pact by February 2024. The the aim being that the legislation is adopted before the next European elections in May 2024.
The document states that the Pact, together with the Common European Asylum System (CEAS), “represents an absolute priority in the work of the European Parliament and of the Council of the European Union and both parties should make the necessary efforts and work together as closely as possible, in a spirit of sincere cooperation, with a view to the adoption of the legislative proposals before the end of the 2019-2024 legislature”.
The document states that to reach an agreement before February 2024, negotiations between co-legislators should start by the end of 2022.
“Citizens expect solutions on migration. Postponing decisions is not an option,” European Parliament President Roberta Metsola wrote in a tweet.
“For too long we have been pushing for joint EU action. A big step forward, creating significant momentum to materialize[les objectifs]“, she added.
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However, despite the promise to finalize the legislative reforms, no information has been given on the reasons that would make this more likely than in the past.
National governments remain divided on reforming EU rules on asylum and migration, as has been the case since the crisis sparked by the arrival in Europe of large numbers of migrants fleeing Syria’s civil war in 2015 .
Current legislation
Failing to reach an agreement on a radical reform of the EU immigration and asylum system during the last legislature which ended in 2019, the European Commission launched in September 2020 a Pact on the migration and asylum, the validation of which has been delayed due to disagreement between national governments.
After trying and failing to persuade EU governments to accept resettlement quotas, the “voluntary solidarity mechanism” proposed by France in the final weeks of its six-month EU presidency earlier this year invited EU countries willing to take in asylum seekers from those on the southern periphery of the bloc.
Thirteen EU countries have agreed to participate in this programme. Ministers also agreed to provide financial assistance so that further relocations can take place.
Around 8,000 relocations have been decided so far, in line with the Commission’s target to relocate 10,000 asylum seekers from frontline countries such as Greece, Italy and Malta to other countries EU in the first year. If the trial phase works, it can be renewed each year.
However, 16 EU countries had proposed a more restrictive orientation of EU migration policy. In a joint statement, EU states called above all for stronger protection of the EU’s external border to prevent “illegal migration” and a more restrictive return policy.
In the meantime, most competences in border management are in the hands of the Member States. The lack of a harmonized EU migration policy is one of the factors contributing to significant bureaucratic delays in processing asylum applications.
Source: Euractiv