The German EU Council Presidency will submit a progress report on the Asylum and Migration Pact to the EU Interior Ministers on 14 December, German Minister Horst Seehofer said on 7 December.
In the absence of a general political agreement on the broad lines of the Pact, this progress report will make it possible to find out where the Member States stand on the asylum and migration reform submitted on 23 September and will serve as a foundation for the Portuguese Presidency, the minister explained to the elected members of the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, who wanted to hear an interim assessment.
With regard to the Pact, which had already arrived “late”, the minister stressed the existence of differences between Member States on issues such as solidarity and the relocation of asylum seekers in times of crisis, as well as on the new procedures for controlling migrants at external borders.
“But there is agreement among us on the external dimension” of migration and relations with non-Member States, he said.
Internally, however, he conceded that so-called first entry countries want guarantees that “not all refugees will stay in their country”, while others do not want mandatory relocation and prefer to “help by sending personnel”.
The Minister was also asked about Germany’s solidarity with Greece and Italy on migration issues. Germany was a strong supporter of Greece after the fire in the Moria camp and has always been among the countries that have taken the most asylum seekers from the Greek islands, he argued.
Questioned by several elected representatives about the actions of Frontex and accusations about the refoulement of migrants, however, the minister did not reply.
The State Secretary for Justice, Christian Lange, was also questioned at the same time about the Presidency’s judicial aspects. The elected representatives focused some of their speeches on the German Presidency’s action, which was considered ineffective with regard to Article 7 concerning Hungary and Poland, the Presidency having been criticised for not having held any discussion on these two procedures. Greens/EFA MEP Tineke Strik asked what fate awaits these two procedures, which now appear to be “dead”, but the State Secretary for Justice could only refer her to the European Affairs ministers, who are the only ones “negotiating Article 7”, he replied.
Pact at ‘Coreper’
At their level, the national ambassadors to the EU discussed the meeting on 14 December and the Asylum and Migration Pact. Only one progress report is indeed envisaged, as the differences in approach remain too great, confirmed one source, which also indicates that the respective positions on the subject are not changing. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)