As expected, European leaders meeting in Brussels on 18 October, this time with Theresa May, did not move any lines on the reform of the European asylum system.
During a discussion lasting almost two hours, they sent a further negative signal to the Austrian Presidency by not giving sufficient support to its concept of "compulsory solidarity”, which it wanted to explore in order to break the deadlock of the reform of the Dublin Regulation, which had been blocked for months on the degree of solidarity in receiving asylum seekers between Member States in crisis situations.
This support could not be provided because of the commitment of other Member States to the concept of "mandatory relocation", which some countries are also not ready to give up, said one source.
“Today's discussions have once again shown what I have been saying for years: there is no unity on compulsory sharing. We must focus on the external border, I am grateful that there is in fact support from all Member States for our plan with neighbouring and transit countries to work more closely - with Egypt, and also others”, commented Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.
Almost “nothing" happened on Friday, if "one can be cynical", said one source. The Twenty-Eight have not made any progress on the timetable for this reform, "setting a date would be artificial", said another diplomatic source.
Nor was there any consensus to validate the texts of the Asylum Package, which are more or less ready, such as the Qualifications Regulation or the Reception Conditions Directive.
Nor does the text of the conclusions refer to the concepts created by the June European summit, namely the "controlled centres" in the EU, closed centres for temporarily sorting people landed on European soil and the "landing platforms" in North African countries. A last concept that did not have the expected success, just as with that of the controlled centres, a French idea that was not very advanced either.
Only the continuation of cooperation with Egypt, announced in September in Salzburg, remains on the agenda, for which an EU-Arab League summit will be convened at the end of February in Sharm el-Sheikh. The idea is to strengthen action against smugglers, in particular.
The Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, wanted to stress the role of Morocco, "which is doing an extraordinary job" in controlling borders and asked his counterparts to value this cooperation with Morocco.
The conclusions adopted by the Twenty-Eight were therefore the same as those in the last provisional draft; however, an addition relating to Turkey was made at the request of Greece and Cyprus. Both delegations expressed the wish that "further efforts be made to implement" this agreement. Both countries have difficulties with the readmission of people to Turkey, a source explained. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic with the editorial staff)