The German EU Council Presidency will try to reach a “political agreement” in December on the main elements of the ‘Pact on Migration and Asylum’, including the solidarity mechanism, returns and the new border procedure, and plans to hold another ministerial meeting in Brussels on 13 November, Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said on Thursday, 8 October.
Following a first meeting of the Ministers of the Interior on the ‘Pact on Migration and Asylum’, which was presented on 23 September (see EUROPE 12566/1), the Minister expressed his confidence after a long round table with the Ministers: he attended a “promising” exchange and was reassured by the fact that all the Member States showed a willingness to move forward “together” on the subject of migration.
A “fresh start is essential, and only together can solutions be found”, he said. Member States also underlined their intention to make progress on the Commission’s proposals, which the Minister considered a good sign.
The Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, also found the discussion “encouraging”. “It is obvious that cooperation is needed, that we need this compromise”, and that, on the subject of migration, “we no longer need polemics”.
However, she was somewhat less convinced of the possibility of a political agreement as early as December (in this case on 3 and 4 December) and considered it more realistic to “finalise this under the Portuguese Presidency”.
In fact, “there are only two months left, if you take out the Christmas period”, the Interior Minister conceded, further indicating that such political advances can only take place in face-to-face meetings. He therefore hopes that this will be possible on 13 November.
In any case, Thursday’s discussion provided an opportunity for a detailed round table discussion on the criticisms, questions and fears raised by these proposals: as a reminder, they relax the Dublin rules a little in exchange for tighter controls on migrants arriving at the external borders, provide for compulsory solidarity in the form of reception or aid for returns, and aim to boost returns and cooperation with non-Member States.
On 7 October, the German Minister met with representatives of the southern EU countries, who expressed their concerns to him. They fear that the return sponsorship system will not work and that they will end up with thousands of people to take care of.
These fears were repeated during the meeting, one source said, as Eastern European countries also asked about these sponsorships, while wondering whether they were not ultimately hidden relocations.
Ylva Johansson confirmed that “questions and requests for changes” had been raised. “We will be responding in the coming weeks and months”, she said.
The discussion should now continue on the most sensitive parameters between Member States at SCIFA meetings and in the Committee of Permanent Representatives.
At the same time, the German Presidency wants the Eurodac regulation proposed in September and the proposal on the European Asylum Agency, which has been pending since 2018, to be adopted as quickly as possible.
Exchanges between Mrs von der Leyen and Kyriákos Mitsotákis
The President of the Commission and the Greek Prime Minister also spoke on the phone in the morning and “agreed that Europe needs a predictable, fair and resilient migration management system with a fair balance between shared responsibility and solidarity”, according to a statement.
They stressed “the continuing urgency of the situation on the island of Lesbos following the fires in the Moria camp” and pledged to support the work of the working group set up by the Commission to develop a joint pilot project and “new appropriate facilities in Lesbos”. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)