German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer gave some details on Monday 28 September in Berlin on how he intends to take forward the ‘Asylum and Migration Pact’, which was presented on 23 September (see EUROPE 12566/1), under the German EU Council Presidency.
After the informal video conference on 8 October, which will allow a first exchange of views on the package, a “physical” meeting - Seehofer hopes - will take place between ministers in November in Brussels to take the dossier forward. In December, also in person, the already scheduled formal meeting will be held, with the Minister saying he is “confident” that a “political agreement” involving most of the Member States will be reached on the main provisions of the Pact.
The Minister was speaking during a visit to Berlin by Commission Vice-President Margarítis Schinás. The Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, joined them virtually to discuss the package of texts on the table, including new border procedures, return operations, and solidarity in times of crisis.
Noting that proposals should not be “unthinkingly” commented on, but rather should be worked on directly, the German Minister considered the Pact to be a “good proposal” covering all areas of migration. “We will do our best” to move it forward, said Horst Seehofer, hoping that adoptions can then take place under the Portuguese Presidency.
Commissioner Ylva Johansson, who met earlier in Brussels with UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi, again called for “de-dramatising” the debate on migration. The Vice-Chair, for his part, asked to avoid “binary choices between solidarity and responsibility, obligation and voluntary assistance”.
The two Commission officials defended their work, including the timetable for submission after numerous consultation sessions with Member States. The Commissioner also defended the Commission’s actions in Lesbos and Moria, recalling that the efforts undertaken had made it possible, in recent months, to empty the camp of half of its population.
Reacting to criticism of a fortified Europe, Mrs Johansson assured that the right to asylum would be protected and that anyone persecuted or seeking protection would have the right to come to the EU.
The German minister, for his part, wants to discuss the issue of legal labour migration “for people who are not persecuted, but who can come” to the EU to meet labour needs.
The agenda for the 8 October meeting was confirmed on Monday morning by the Ambassadors to the EU: after a first exchange of views on the Pact, they will have discussions or a point of information concerning the European Police Partnership and migration partnerships with non-Member States (Africa and Western Balkans). (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)