Brussels, 13/05/2015 (Agence Europe) - As President Jean-Claude Juncker announced on 29 April last to the European Parliament, the European Commission confirmed its intention on Wednesday 13 May to test member states' solidarity, with its presentation of its “Agenda for Migration”. This will compel member states to redistribute migrants that need international protection on the basis of a distribution key. These migrants have arrived in the south of the European Union, as well as 20,000 refugees from war, mainly Syrians, who are currently outside the EU in camps run by the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).
This issue has been highlighted by the British press and David Cameron's government over the past few days. On Wednesday, Cameron's Home Secretary, Theresa May, simply called for the migrants to be sent back (which is proscribed by international law). The Agenda for Migration presented on Wednesday confirms the “determination” of the Commission to take action, as explained by the First Vice President, Frans Timmermans, who called on all member states to assume their responsibilities.
Timmermans said that “we know from the outset that there will be criticism when we make these kinds of proposals”. Nonetheless, Timmermans (from the Netherlands), added, “but we cannot allow entire families to die at sea and that we refuse to talk about it by saying 'it is not my problem'”. He also explained that the College of Commissioners was united in its support for the Commission's proposals.
As suggested by the documents that have been circulating over recent days, the Commission therefore intends to activate Article 78.3 of the Treaty at the end of May. This will help implement emergency mechanisms in the event of sudden influxes of migrants. This proposal is expected in the next two weeks and sets out a distribution key for the migrants currently in the south of the EU and who are seeking international protection. Italy, alone, is receiving hundreds or thousands of illegal immigrants attempting to enter the EU every week.
Although the European Commission had not yet provided exact details of the quotas for each member state on Wednesday 13 May, it has set out criteria for calculating the quotas: these will be calculated on the basis of the total population, the number of refugees already in the country and the number of demands for asylum received, which will also be on the basis of national GDP and unemployment rates. These criteria will be subject to a 40% weighting for the size of the population, 40% for national GDP and 10% for unemployment rates, explains the Commission in an annex.
Under the terms of this distribution key, it will therefore be Germany that will be in most demand (18.42%), followed by France (14.17%) and Italy (11.84%), which already has this percentage of the population in the country. Afterwards, it will be Poland (5.64%) and the Netherlands (4.35%). On Wednesday, the Commission explained that the exact figures would only be provided when a complete assessment of the number of migrants in Italy, Malta and Greece is known. The Commission also explained that it is only migrants who have been identified that can claim international protection and who will be resettled in other member states. Teams from Frontex, EASO and the Malta Office for Asylum Support will help the national authorities carry out this screening. All migrants who are deemed unfit for asylum and do not require specific protection will be sent back to their countries of origin and the others will be “redistributed” to other member states, which should help provide some relief to Italy, Malta and Greece. At the end of the year, the Commission may also propose making this emergency mechanism permanent in specific legislation. This mechanism could also possibly replace the 2001 directive on temporary protection, which has never been used and is considered ill thought out.
Resettlement: 20,000 new places required for war refugees
This redistribution key will also apply in the same way to an extensive European resettlement programme that the Commission also intends to propose at the end of May in a recommendation. On Wednesday, however, the Commission made its intentions clear. It will call on the EU to take care of 20,000 people currently awaiting resettlement in HCR camps in Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey, as well as in other countries bordering on the conflict zones. The Commission has set out the exact figures per country. According to these criteria, Germany will therefore be called on to take in 3,086 people, France 2,375, Italy 1,989 and the United Kingdom 2,049 people. The United Kingdom has not yet approved its participation in this scheme. The Commission will also be proposing at the end of May a budget of €50 million to help member states carry out this task in 2015 and 2016.
In both cases, Article 78.3 requires a qualified majority at the Council, which should enable a British veto to be circumvented. The Commission will put forward its detailed proposals within two weeks and hopes that the home affairs ministers, who are meeting in Luxembourg on 16 June, then the EU28, who are meeting on 26 June, will give their green light to its plans so that the two programmes can begin in July. “Today we are speaking about urgency”, said a European source on Wednesday, suggesting that the member states will be brought to making a decision quickly. The European Parliament only has to be consulted.
The UK, Ireland and Denmark have special derogations. While Denmark has a full opt-out on asylum-related policies, London and Dublin have opt-in rights and will have to say within three months following the Commission's presentation whether they wish to take part.
London has said a thundering 'no' to the proposal to distribute asylum seekers between the member states, and could also refuse to take part in the resettlement programme. The countries associated to the EU and Schengen, like Norway and Switzerland, could also be requested to take part in these two programmes, a source said on Wednesday.
“Dublin will have to be reviewed” (Timmermans). Another important part of the Agenda is the re-assessment announced in 2016 of the Dublin system, which since 2003 has governed the rules on distributing asylum seekers. The Commission, which is refusing to say that its emergency mechanism proposed on 13 May calls into question the general structure of the Dublin system, will look next year at how the Dublin system can contribute to a fairer asylum system between the EU28.
The Dublin system has often been criticised in that it has led to asylum seekers being transferred to countries that are sometimes already under pressure and that are well-known for their bad reception conditions. On Wednesday, it was Frans Timmermans himself who made known his conversion to a reform of the Dublin system. In March, after an initial policy debate, Timmermans had at that stage ruled out this option. However, hundreds of shipwrecks and thousands of lost lives later, Timmermans said that it will be necessary “to review Dublin. This is very clear”. The Dublin regulation (already revised twice) came to light “in a very different situation”. In 2014, he said, 74% of asylum applications were made in five member states which “is untenable, so this point will have to be reviewed”. Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel used the same words on 23 April at the European summit, as Germany - along with Sweden - is the country offering the most protection statuses and receiving the most asylum applications.
As for the rest, the Agenda presented on Wednesday underlines the fight against illegal immigration, and proposes strengthening implementation of the return directive and discussion on this with the country of origin. The Frontex mandate could be reviewed at the end of the year in order to strengthen this return mission, the text states. In the short term, the budget for the Triton operation has been tripled.
As regards cooperation with third countries and external actions, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini highlighted the need to attack the reasons why migrants leave. The EU will also cooperate more with the countries of departure and transit as regards the fight against traffickers. The Political and Security Committee, moreover, decided the same day to strengthen the EUCAP Sahel Niger mission. The EU will therefore offer support to the authorities of Niger in preventing illegal immigration and fighting associated crimes. The foreign affairs and defence ministers could also take initial decisions on 18 May on a common security and defence policy naval mission to attack the “economic model” of the traffickers. As regards legal migration, the key measure is the announced review of the blue card directive.
A good welcome at the European Parliament. The Commission's Agenda was largely welcomed, especially by the political groups at the European Parliament. For the EPP Group, the Commission has shown ambition. “Jean-Claude Juncker has taken a very firm commitment today in a favour of solidarity with refugees. We finally have a European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker who has the courage to resist national selfishness in the interests of Europe and those who risk their lives every day in the Mediterranean”, said Rachida Dati (EPP, France).
For the ALDE Group and Nathalie Griesbeck (France), “the Commission is today - finally! - taking the measure of the breadth of the migratory phenomenon in Europe”. Griesbeck is now awaiting action from the member states.
As for the S&D Group, its leader, Gianni Pittella (Italy), thought the Commission's step of imposing quotas was “historic”. The social-democrats are now hoping that the EU28 will take their responsibility.
NGO Amnesty International also thought that this step was welcome and could be an important stage in resolving the migratory crisis in the Mediterranean. (Solenn Paulic with Camille-Cerise Gessant)