Brussels, 15/09/2015 (Agence Europe) - The day after EU interior ministers failed to reach a political agreement on the compulsory of relocation in the EU of 120,000 immigrants from Greece, Italy and Hungary, the Presidency of the Council of the EU convened an emergency meeting of ministers on Tuesday 22 September, while Germany called for the holding of a full European summit.
On Monday evening, European ministers were unable to agree on a conclusions document from the Council of the EU. The Luxembourg Presidency noted that most member states were in favour of the relocation, but the conclusions document signed solely by the Presidency noted the lack of consensus on the subject (see EUROPE 11388).
Hungary fiercely opposes the idea of being treated like Greece or Italy, which it criticises for bad external border management, and refuses to take advantage of a relocation mechanism, criticising the quota system as counterproductive. Several sources say that Hungary has not actually carried out its plans of blocking movement. Slovakia and the Czech Republic, along with Romania and even Latvia, were reportedly the most virulent opponents, who prevented the Council meeting from reaching agreement in principle.
The head of the European Parliament's civil liberties committee, Claude Moraes (S&D, United Kingdom), slammed the new failure by the ministers to provide a common response to the crisis. He said it was shameful that some of the richest countries in the world could not decide to help people fleeing war and persecution.
The European Commission gave a low-key welcome to member states' desire to participate in the relocation mechanism, although Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos said on Monday that the talks had not led to the desired agreement. Pointing out that it had taken member states four months to agree on the emergency housing of 40,000 people (see EUROPE 11363), the Commission is pleased that its overall migration agenda as a whole was endorsed.
On Monday evening, ministers supported work to strengthen the EU's external borders and the work of the Frontex agency in returning illegal immigrants. They also approved of the idea of deploying 'RABIT' intervention teams at sensitive sections of the EU's external borders, and urged Italy and Greece to make migrant hotspots operational, where people not entitled to international protection can be detained while their repatriation is organised. The ministers also approved of the idea of giving the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees more money to help the countries bordering on Syria and the Western Balkans manage the influx of migrants.
Berlin calls for a summit and talks of “ways of applying pressure”. After restoring border controls with Austria on Sunday to reduce the number of asylum-seekers reaching Germany from Austria and Hungary, Berlin's interior minister Thomas de Maizière suggested on Tuesday that countries refusing to accept quotas of migrants could be penalised by freezing their allocation of European Structural Funds.
He told ZDF that it was time to discuss ways of applying pressure on the countries that refuse to display solidarity and that they must not be allowed to get away with it. He said the countries refusing a sharing out of migrants through quotas happen to be those receiving a great deal of money from the EU's Structural Funds and it would be fair for the money they receive to be reduced. Asked about this, the European Commission said that it had not been informed about this plan, although de Maizière said the idea had come from Jean-Claude Juncker. The Commission said that the multiannual financial framework (the budget) does not provide a legal basis for cutting European Structural Funds if a country refuses to take part in a relocation mechanism, and incentives, rather than sanctions, were required.
The fate of the relocation plans for the 120,000 asylum-seekers was uncertain on Tuesday. The Commission hoped that interior ministers would meet again before their meeting scheduled for 8 October to continue their work on the plans, but Germany and Austria are calling for an emergency European summit next week on the refugee crisis. Speaking in Berlin alongside the Austrian chancellor, Werner Faymann, the German chancellor, Angela Merkel said that Germany, Austria and Sweden could not solve the immigration crisis on their own. Austria gave notification on Tuesday that it is reintroducing border controls with Hungary, Italy, Slovakia and Slovenia.
The call for a special summit has already been made by countries rejecting the relocation mechanism, namely Slovakia and Hungary. The idea has had a mixed welcome. There is the danger that, as happened in June, that heads of state will officially kill off the idea of compulsory quotas and interfere with the work on the proposals currently on the table.
If there is to be a European summit, then it should deal with real issues, such as the situation in Syria, increasing finance for Frontex and use of the Schengen Border Code (that allows border controls to be restored to deal with mass influx of migrants) said a European source, feeling that such a summit would not be helpful. The decision lies in the hands of the president of the European Council, Donald Tusk, and will be announced on Thursday 17 September.
Hungarian law comes into force making it illegal to cross border with Serbia. Meanwhile, Hungary, where Avramopoulos will be travelling on Thursday, introduced a new law on Tuesday (that will be officially passed on Thursday) making it illegal to cross its barbed wire border with Serbia without the proper papers. The Hungarian authorities say the law illustrates how seriously they take Schengen external border control, but it is already being slammed. The Council of Europe has asked the Hungarian prime minister, Victor Orban, for explanations, and the European Commission has started analysing the new law. Hungary announced on Tuesday that it is preparing to extend the barbed wire fence along its border with Romania.
Travelling to Brussels to meet the president of the Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said he deeply regretted that the ministers had not been able to agree on the relocation of a further 120,000 asylum-seekers, stating that the failure rendered the situation highly complicated for those most closely involved, who would suffer from it. He said the EU should rapidly introduce a plan B before the 8 October meeting, and called for the introduction of genuine migrant reception centres in Greece and Italy, where they can be properly welcomed and their applications properly processed. He also called on the EU to consider a mechanism to reduce the burden on Syria, such as a resettlement or relocation mechanism.
More than 500,000 people have arrived in the EU since 1 January 2015. On Tuesday, the Frontex agency published new figures showing that 156,000 immigrants arrived in the EU in August, and more than 500,000 since the start of the year. The highest figures have been recorded in Greece, with 88,000 arriving in August. The refugees move on in the direction of Hungary, which has recorded 155,000 new arrivals since 1 January 2015, according to Frontex. Italy recorded 13,000 arrivals in August, half the number that arrived in July. (Solenn Paulic)