The European Council will have to make a breakthrough on migration policy and reform of the European asylum system, as it will have to maintain a common position in the face of the UK and try to reach an agreement on the country's orderly exit from the EU. These were the MEPs' two main demands on Tuesday morning during a debate on the next European Council on 18 October.
Some MEPs also took advantage of the debate to criticise the member states and the poor results obtained at the informal summit in Strasbourg on 20 September. S&D Group leader Udo Bullmann, from Germany, deplored the fact that no "progress" had been made in Austria and that no "solidarity" had been expressed when people died at sea over the summer. He also asked the member states what gave them "the right to undo the asylum package" when the Commission made a proposal and the European Parliament also adopted its opinion.
On migration, which will be one of the main themes of the Council in October, as Austrian minister Juliane Bogner-Strauss said, Bullmann was joined by the European Parliament's ALDE Group leader, Guy Verhofstadt from Belgium, who was also of the opinion that one of the three priorities of the October European Council, along with the Brexit negotiations and the fight against the rise of illiberal movements in Europe, must be to unblock this 'migration' file. "When will the Council have an opinion?", he asked.
In his introductory words, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker also urged the Council to agree on this reform before the end of the year.
EU like the former USSR, MEPs want apology
On the Brexit negotiations, the MEPs responded to the words of the UK's foreign minister, Jeremy Hunt, who during a visit to Estonia on 30 September likened the EU to the Soviet Union. The leader of the European Parliament's EPP Group, Manfred Weber from Germany, like Udo Bullmann, demanded an apology. "You should apologise", Weber said, while Bullmann stated that Hunt's attitude was "irresponsible".
The Austrian Presidency of the EU Council of Ministers stated that the October Council would be the "moment of truth" in the negotiations. "We expect progress and results", the Austrian Presidency said, while British Prime Minister Theresa May is due to put forward new ideas to settle the Irish problem. Speaking at the end of the debate, European Commission First Vice-President Frans Timmermans responded to the words of some British leaders accusing the EU of magnifying and using the Good Friday agreement to put pressure on London. "How can the UK say that the Good Friday agreement is not linked to the negotiations? It is completely part of them. It is one of the historic achievements of the UK, of Ireland and of the EU. We are all responsible for it", he said.
New immigration rules
On her side, May unveiled new rules on immigration into the UK on Tuesday 2 October, which will enter into force after Brexit and which will give priority to qualified workers, removing the free movement of European citizens. "It will be a skills-based system where it is workers’ skills that matter, not where they come from", May said in a statement. She added that the system would "make sure low skilled immigration is brought down and set the UK on the path to reduce immigration to sustainable levels". (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)