At a plenary session debate of the European Parliament on Tuesday 12 June, the MEPs, who are outraged at the fate of the migrants rescued by the ship Aquarius, which belongs to the association SOS Mediterranean, called on European leaders to reach a solution to the reform of the European asylum system at the end of June. The dossier has largely eclipsed the other subjects on the agenda of the forthcoming European summit, such as Eurozone reform (see other article), trade and Brexit.
Parliament's President, Antonio Tajani, has invited the member states to take inspiration from the Parliament’s negotiating position, which was decided upon in autumn 2017 and which, he stressed, combines “firmness with solidarity”.
The draft 'Wikström' report, which was approved by the committee on civil liberties in October 2017, calls for a permanent and compulsory mechanism for the relocation of asylum seekers based on quotas (see EUROPE 11887). There is some considerable distance between this position and the most recent Bulgarian compromise proposals that have been put before the member states (see EUROPE 12034).
On behalf of the S&D, Germany’s Udo Bullmann acknowledged that Italy had done much in terms of hosting migrants from Libya with no assistance from its European peers. However, he criticised the attitude of the new Italian home affairs minister, Matteo Salvini, the leader of the far-right Lega party. If you think you can show your strength against pregnant women and children “it’s pitiful!”, he said, describing the sea-change in Italian migration policy as “indefensible”.
Guy Verhofstadt (ALDE, Belgium) described what is happening in the Mediterranean as “shameful”, with more than 10,000 people having drowned there since 2014, including 800 since the beginning of this year. Opposing Salvini’s position completely, he pointed the finger at a European Council that is incapable of taking a stance on migration and the reform of the European asylum system, the so-called ‘Dublin’ regulation. He backed the idea of creating reception centres outside the EU in the transit countries to allow migrants to apply for asylum and not fall into the clutches of traffickers. He considers that the Parliament should bring a case against the European Council before the Court of Justice of the EU if the 28 fail to reach a consensus agreement on the reform of the end of the month.
On behalf of the Greens/EFA group, Ska Keller of Germany criticised the member states who preach only closing the external borders of the EU and then criticised the forthcoming Austrian Presidency of the Council of the EU, which is reported to have told the current Bulgarian Presidency that the reform of the Dublin regulation was “dead in the water”. Gabriele Zimmer (GUE/NGL, Germany) considered that the Bulgarian compromise proposal will not work, as it does not change the underlying problem: “are the member states prepared to accept a minimum number of migrants as a sign of solidarity?” She added that “people should not think that if we build walls around us, it will have no effect on our societies”.
Not all of the political groups agree. On behalf of the ECR group, Roberts Zīle of Latvia said that the system of quotas of migrants was not working. There are not enough member states where migrants want to live, as countries such as Latvia are too economically weak to be able to hold on to these refugees, he noted.
French ENF member Nicolas Bay welcomed the fact that in the Aquarius case, Italy won in its “stand-off” with Malta. He criticised “so-called humanitarian” NGOs and “irresponsible” political discourse that promises Eldorado to migrants. The only solution is to stand firm against the “permanent blackmail of charity”, he argued.
On behalf of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans said that the “Council [cannot] delay its decisions indefinitely”. He called for a “migration policy based on accountability and solidarity, whilst ensuring the best protection for our external borders”. “No fence is high enough and no ocean is wide enough to make our countries immune to the pull factor of the freedom, prosperity and stability of our Union”, he said.
On the reform of the ‘Dublin’ regulation, the First Vice-President of the Commission welcomed the Bulgarian Presidency’s efforts, considering that all elements favouring a “balanced, solid and lasting” agreement respecting the various sensitivities was now on the table. “We risk harming our values and our humanity if we do not find a solution that allows people in crisis to be seen as human beings needing our help”, he warned.
On Tuesday, the Commission proposed measures to reinforce the European migration policy after 2020 (see other article). (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)