The European Commissioner for Migration, Dimitris Avramopoulos, said he was "confident" that the discussions of the EU interior ministers on Thursday, 7 March on temporary disembarkation arrangements for migrants rescued at sea would take place, and even spoke of a "consensus" on the principles, without specifying the number of voluntary countries.
This temporary disembarkation system is an alternative to the Dublin Regulation, which is blocked at the EU Council level (see other news). After a first discussion in early February in Romania, ministers continued their discussions over lunch today.
The day before, the Romanian Presidency had reported that the discussions were progressing well and that a "large number" of countries supported the key principles of this mechanism.
Earlier in the morning, however, a public debate by ministers still showed some differences. Austria has directly indicated its refusal to participate because of the "pull factor" effect of the mechanism.
Greece indicated that this temporary mechanism should be adopted with a mandatory part for all countries that decide to join it. Luxembourg specified that it should concern all countries participating in "rescue operations", i.e. the Mediterranean "from east to west", said its Ambassador to the EU, and that it should only apply to migrants in need of protection.
The Commissioner recalled that the voluntary countries would be assisted by the European budget and also by European agencies such as the European Border and Coast Guard Agency. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)