On Thursday 18 May, EU foreign and migration ministers did not manage to give the decisive impulse to reform of the European asylum system and the Dublin regulation that stipulates the responsible countries. The Maltese Presidency of the Council of the EU admitted at the end of the day that there was ‘clearly work to be done’ on a meeting of minds in the hope of reaching a compromise before the end of June, explained the Maltese interior minister, Carmelo Abela.
The European Summit of December 2016 called for a compromise to be struck before the end of the Maltese Presidency, but Abela ruled out the idea of a qualified majority vote on the question. The experience of the Luxembourg Presidency of the Council of the EU, which went for this option in 2015 for passing relocation decisions at the end of 2015, has not left good memories.
Faced with the persistent blockage, EU Migrations Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos expressed ‘disappointment’ on Thursday evening, pointing out that the clock was ticking for agreement to be reached. The Commissioner said that it was crucial to work on crisis prevention, they still needed tools to deal with any crisis that may occur.
The Commissioner said the Presidency had put all possible elements on the table for finding a solution and he hoped they would find a way of making progress. Like the Slovak Presidency before it, the Maltese Presidency has been trying in recent weeks to find ‘effective solidarity’ that can provide alternatives to countries opposed to emergency relocation of asylum-seekers, but positions do not seem to have changed much, with a persistent divide between countries that won’t contemplate compulsory relocation and those wanting solidarity to apply to everyone.
In recent days, the Commission has raised the tone against countries like Hungary and Poland which have not yet accepted any asylum-seekers under the relocation measures decided at the end of 2015.
On Thursday, ministers were urged to express their views on specific aspects of the reform in a document submitted to them by the Presidency, viz. how to avoid secondary flows of immigrants, and how to apply relocation to fewer people. The Presidency asked the member states whether applicants from safe third countries with which the EU has readmission agreements should be excluded from the relocation process.
This informal Presidency document gave an update on the general situation – there is consensus at present that the Dublin Regulation should be reshaped to deal better with crises by eliminating its gaps and shortcomings. There is also consensus that reform must be carried out alongside other policies to reduce the number of illegal immigrants arriving in the EU. Moreover, everyone seems to agree about a three-step measure described in January at an informal meeting in Malta (see EUROPE 11712).
The Maltese Presidency says there is not yet consensus on solidarity among member states when a crisis occurs in order to not leave all the burden on countries where immigrants first land. Talks are continuing on the details of how this type of solidarity might operate. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)