Despite a very short item—in public debate—on the Migration and Asylum Pact and the state of progress of its legislative dossiers, the interior ministers of the EU Member States, meeting by videoconference on 12 March, will at least try to advance the discussion on the external dimension of the Pact, dealing in particular with cooperation on returns and readmission and a new partnership with several North African countries.
Also on their agenda is an exchange on the Critical Infrastructure Directive (see EUROPE 12624/2).
On the Migration and Asylum Pact, presented in September and which includes 5 new legislative initiatives, the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the EU has not made any promises and has not set itself any concrete objectives for its adoption: it wishes to favour a “realistic approach”, said one source, whereas there are “more divergences than convergences” on this subject and Portugal’s objective is to reduce these divergences.
However, this approach is considered rather unambitious by other Member States, which would like a little more “action” and “energy” on this issue, notes another source, regretting that the Portuguese Presidency is not tackling more “stuck” dossiers, such as the new rules on pre-controls at external borders or the new asylum procedures.
Portugal has indeed chosen to talk more about returns, a point on which there is a consensus among the EU27 on the need for a policy of returns of migrants who cannot be granted asylum and on the observation that the current policy is not working.
On Tuesday, the EU ambassadors prepared the 12 March discussion with the Commission’s report assessing third countries’ cooperation on returns and readmission.
The discussion was short, with few speeches. It will therefore be up to the Ministers to decide whether a list of non-cooperative countries should be drawn up and whether a deadline should be set beyond which the use of the visa lever should be activated. One delegation reported difficulties with Iran, Eritrea and Iraq, but the Commission did not name any.
The Ministers will also discuss a new partnership on migration, internal security and other areas of cooperation with 5 North African countries: Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Libya and Algeria. The discussion could focus on whether or not to include Mauritania. On Thursday, the EU Justice Ministers will also have a brief briefing on this partnership.
Joint Council
On Monday 15 March, the Ministers of the European Union, this time together with the Ministers of Foreign Affairs,will once again focus on cooperation with third countries. This Joint Council, known as the ‘Jumbo’, was announced in January by the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the EU to take the Pact forward.
The ambassadors of the Member States discussed this on Wednesday 10 March. According to one note, the aim of the ‘Jumbo’ Council is “to give more direction to the EU’s approach by taking a fresh and operational look at the concept of partnership”.
“It is essential to establish comprehensive and tailor-made partnerships with third countries that are beneficial to both sides. To maximise their impact, the EU and its Member States need to work more closely and constructively with third countries” and with “stronger engagement of Member States”, the text states.
The work focuses on “mutually beneficial partnerships with key third countries, with well-managed migration at its core”, partnerships that can “bring benefits to their economies, sustainable development, education, stability and security”.
Migration objectives “are best achieved when tailor-made migration partnerships covering the relevant aspects of migration” are developed, for example, by taking into account “promoting the effective integration of migrants in third countries, creating economic opportunities and addressing the root causes of irregular migration and forced displacement”, the note says.
Border management capacity and the fight against human trafficking,as well as effective cooperation on return, readmission and reintegration by facilitating voluntary return, are another pillar of these ‘tailor-made’ partnerships. The Pact has also created a new concept: the partnerships for talent, relating to legal migration.
“When engaging with key third partners, careful consideration should be given, on a case-by-case basis, to which combination of tools and policies best serves the overall interests of the EU and promotes mutually beneficial cooperation”, says the text, referring also to the discussion on visa conditionality.
The question of a link with development aid policies and the work of ‘Team Europe’ was also raised.
Critical infrastructure
The Commission proposed on 16 December to dust off the legislative framework on the resilience of critical infrastructure, which only included the response to terrorist acts and cyber attacks. It extended the scope of the scheme to events such as pandemics and other natural disasters and proposed that the list of physical infrastructure be extended to include hospitals, public administrations and the financial sector.
This will be a very first ministerial discussion, according to some sources. However, the legal basis of the text should be of concern to Ministers, as should the planned transfer of competences to the Commission, whereas this work, according to the Member States, is more a matter of internal security and therefore falls within their own competence.
Other topics
The Commission has requested that an item be added on current restrictions on intra-EU travel. It should come as no surprise, as the Commission is opposed to the measures taken by some countries such as Germany and Belgium, which have no intention of lifting them. Croatia’s accession to the Schengen area will also be the subject of an information point.
Link to the ‘Jumbo’ document: http://bit.ly/3t7GKCA (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)