The ambassadors of Member States to the EU will next week prepare the meeting of Interior Ministers on 8 June (in Luxembourg). They will take stock of a progress report from the Portuguese Presidency of the EU Council on the state of play of the Pact on Migration and Asylum.
In this progress report, dated 24 May, the Presidency unsurprisingly notes that it has not been able to conclude the readings of the two main interrelated texts in the Pact, namely the Asylum and Migration Management Regulation (AMMR), which includes, inter alia, the new so-called Dublin rules, and the Asylum Procedure Regulation (APR).
The work in the EU Council has, however, clarified a few points, such as the notion of responsibility (the length of time a State is responsible for an application), but it has also identified major differences or ‘contradictory views’, as the Presidency describes them.
On the AMMR, Member States have notably diverged on the inclusion in the so-called Dublin rules of the siblings of the asylum seeker in the notion of family, an inclusion which was intended to relieve the countries of first entry, but which, by widening the criteria for accepting asylum applications, could ‘inflate’ the proportion of applications in a single country.
Some Member States, not cited in the report, are also opposed to the existence of a separate mechanism for rescue operations at sea. The Commission has, in fact, established, for this type of event, an annual mechanism for anticipating needs and a compulsory response, notably based on relocation, as soon as disembarkations occur.
The discussions also showed that States remain mixed on return sponsorship, a solidarity option in times of migratory pressure that needs to be clarified, even if the principle itself is fairly well supported, the report says.
Member States also mentioned difficulties with the organisation of the texts themselves and asked for certain principles to be clarified, reworded or repositioned.
No consensus on new Dublin rules
On the new Dublin rules, the Presidency notes that there is “no consensus” on including the asylum seeker’s siblings in the notion of family.
In general, the discussions showed that Member States prioritise countering secondary movements, avoiding easy shifts of responsibility or granting material reception conditions to the applicant only in the Member State responsible for his/her case. The frontline Member States warned that they would be overburdened with responsibilities.
On solidarity, the report notes, again unsurprisingly, that States want more clarity on the conditions for triggering solidarity measures. States are also divided between those who want maximum flexibility in aid measures of all kinds and those who want a strict catalogue based mainly on the relocation of asylum seekers.
Asylum procedures
On the APR, points of divergence remain on the mandatory/voluntary nature of the border asylum procedure (which allows for accelerated processing of the application), its scope and exceptions and the feasibility of linking both asylum and return border procedures and the (short) deadlines foreseen for it.
Another open point is implementing a legal concept of non-entry into the territory, and the (systematic) use of detention as well as possible expulsion measures. The links of the APR with other texts, such as the one on pre-screening of migrants, are also questionable.
A general reservation is maintained on this ‘pre-screening’ text, which organises identity, security or health checks of migrants arriving at the external borders over five days, because of the link with other regulations.
MEPs will debate the Pact on Thursday.
Launch of ‘Talent Partnerships’ on 11 June
The Presidency also launched a reflection on the launch of the Commission’s Talent Partnerships on 11 June, which are designed to open up channels for labour migration with third countries. In particular, it asks Member States to indicate which third countries should be given priority.
Link to the progress report: https://bit.ly/3oPDGdo
Link to the note on Talent Partnerships: https://bit.ly/34lsoUN (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)