The Home Affairs Ministers of the European Union will have a complex discussion of at least 3 hours on the Pact on Migration and Asylum on Monday 14 December.
To this end, the German EU Council Presidency will submit a progress report on the Pact, failing to seek a general political agreement, as German Minister Horst Seehofer had stated as an ambitious goal in September (see EUROPE 12617/14).
“There has been some progress, some elements that have been agreed upon, such as the external dimension of migration and returns. But on the rest, the positions remain too far apart”, a diplomatic source said. She also considered that migration remains by far “the most controversial and ideological issue” facing the EU. According to her, this dossier “will not be solved in weeks or months, but in years”.
The latest discussions at the level of Member States’ Ambassadors to the EU (Coreper) have shown that there are still quite clear differences between Member States, divided into three categories: – southern European countries, located along on the front line, are sceptical about the new border procedures and pre-controls of migrants; – countries concerned by secondary movements, “especially those in the North and West of the EU”, said this source; and – central European countries, such as the Visegrád countries, which continue to oppose the relocation of migrants as a compulsory solidarity measure (see EUROPE 12609/14).
A consensus is certainly emerging on the importance of having mandatory solidarity in times of crisis, “but when you delve deeper, there is clearly no agreement”, the diplomat added. Member States’ positions differ, for example, between resorting to the relocation of migrants or expressing solidarity simply through financial aid.
Good news in the fight against online terrorism
Ministers will also welcome the agreement reached on Thursday 10 December on the timely removal of terrorist content online (see EUROPE 12620/11). The EU Council is expected to validate this result by written procedure later this week.
The interoperability of European information systems (VIS, SIS, ETIAS, entry/exit, ECRIS-TCN, etc.) will also be on the ministerial agenda. Member States will have to tell the Commission whether they maintain the objective of the interoperability framework entering into force in 2023, whereas the Commission is concerned about a further two-month delay in the implementation of this instrument.
The Council of the EU will also take note of the adoption of a declaration on encryption in which it asks the Commission to work on new technical and legal solutions to facilitate the work of the representative authorities. Conclusions will also be adopted on the European Police Partnership, which strengthens cooperation between EU police forces.
This specific discussion on home affairs will take place on Monday morning and will include a debate on the recent terrorist attacks. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)