German Minister for the Interior, Horst Seehofer, does not expect any miracles when it comes to the Asylum and Migration Pact, which will not be presented until September, but does at least hope to make progress during the German Presidency of the EU Council.
He would also like to see trilogue negotiations resumed with the European Parliament and the conclusion of a series of important dossiers, such as the Returns Directive, which has been undergoing a review since 2018. Security and the fight against crime in the EU forms the other priority.
On 13 July, the Minister was the guest of the European Parliament Civil Liberties Committee (LIBE), which wanted to hear him speak about his programme.
Unsurprisingly, the debate largely focused on the content of the future Pact, which is due to contain a series of proposals on the management of arrivals at external borders, asylum, returns, smugglers and legal migration.
The German minister is aware of the “very short deadlines”, but he understands that priority is given to the budget and the Recovery Plan. “It is essential to have a vision” of the EU budget for the migration and home affairs programmes and “it is necessary to ensure that the agencies in question (Frontex, Europol) are properly staffed over the next few years”, as he fears “cuts” will be made.
Regarding the migration and asylum policy, he said that Berlin wants to “contribute to finding a European solution” and “[he does not] know anyone who thinks we can be satisfied with the current texts”.
Assuring MEPs that he was not aware “of what the Commissioner (Johansson) would present”, he outlined his vision in three pillars: firstly, he said, it would be necessary to focus on new channels for legal migration – especially labour migration – “without opening the floodgates unconditionally”. Economic migration might find its place in certain sectors with conditions, such as “a basic knowledge of the language and an unemployment rate that is not too high in the region”.
There is then cooperation with the countries of origin, which must “receive more help to prevent people from wanting to cross the seas”. The minister was thereby referring to the meeting held earlier with his North African counterparts (see related article).
And it will also be necessary to better manage arrivals in the EU, in particular by ensuring better control procedures are in place at external borders.
On this point, the Minister wants better identification of those who can and cannot obtain asylum: health and security checks would be applied and migrants would be quickly redirected to the right procedure (asylum or a return for those who are not entitled to asylum).
“Obligation” to grant asylum to those who need it
With this statement, the Minister is in line with what the European Commission envisages in its Pact, i.e. pre-screening of migrants at external border entry points set up in all Member States, as the Commission explained in a draft of the Pact in mid-April (https://bit.ly/304HrzU ).
Regarding compulsory relocation for all Member States, Berlin is historically in favour of compulsory sharing. Horst Seehofer reiterated that tens of thousands of people will have to receive protection in Europe, that “it is mandatory”, and that “the Presidency will fight for it to happen”.
The minister also gave MEPs assurances that Germany would not wait for an agreement on the Pact before taking action: in the meantime, efforts would continue to find solutions for those migrants rescued at sea or those people stranded in camps in Greece, some of which have been afforded care by Member States.
He promised to combat the idea put forward by some that those people rescued at sea would create “a draught” if they were disembarked in European ports.
LIBE President Juan Fernando López Aguilar (S&D, Spain), said he hoped that the Presidency would provide impetus to the discussions and also relaunch the trilogues. “I think you have a unique opportunity to get things moving again”, he told the Minister. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)