The EU Member States’ Ministers of the Interior held an informal teleconference on Tuesday 28 April to exchange views on the gradual lifting of internal border controls and asked the Commission to coordinate this exercise.
In lifting these measures, “we have to be very careful”, commented Croatian Minister of the Interior, Davor Božinović, a point on which all Ministers agreed.
The Croatian Minister said that he and his counterparts had agreed on a method for a “gradual and coordinated” lifting of controls, including approving the principle of similar very low risk epidemiological zones. It will also be necessary to take into account the existence of measures, such as barrier gestures, which are similar on both sides, he said.
“Close cooperation between Member States and coordination at the European level” is “essential if we want to avoid a second peak”, the Minister said, adding that the Commission had been strongly encouraged to do this coordination work.
The Commission has heard this “strong appeal” to continue working on the gradual lifting of these controls and will take this task “very seriously”, confirmed Commissioner Ylva Johansson.
According to one source, the Commission should publish a paper on the subject, but the timetable has not been set. First of all, the European Centre for Disease Control has to do the work of identifying epidemiological zones. The work will also address the notion of essential and non-essential travel across internal borders.
The next Ministers meeting will be held on 8 May. According to the Croatian Minister, the Commission will take this opportunity to present its work. This will not be “a simultaneous lifting of controls” but “a coordinated and gradual lifting”, Commissioner Johansson specified again. But the Commission’s document may not be ready by the 8 May date, one source said. In any case, on Tuesday, some Member States made it clear that we should not wait too long in order to avoid the rush to start with unilateral measures without consultation.
On Tuesday, the Ministers also discussed tracing applications and the increase in criminal activity related to the pandemic.
The Pact on Asylum and Migration is almost ready
Migration was another topic discussed by the Ministers. The Commission was invited to present the Pact on Asylum and Migration as soon as possible. It “is more or less finished”, the official said, but did not give a date during the meeting.
Mrs Johansson explained that the emergencies currently encountered by Member States in the processing of asylum cases would be taken into account in the Pact, according to one source.
On the relocation programme for young isolated migrants in Greek camps, the Commissioner was also pleased to be able to say that, after Luxembourg and Germany, it is “Portugal” which will soon be welcoming young migrants to its soil. Around 10 Member States are currently volunteering to take care of 1,600 young unaccompanied migrants. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)