On Tuesday 8 June, the Interior Ministers of the EU Member States, meeting in Luxembourg, had a brief update on the ‘Pact on Migration and Asylum’, the various texts of which are progressing slowly and are still marked by persistent differences on the balance between responsibility and solidarity.
But Portuguese Interior Minister Eduardo Cabrita explained, at the end of the working day, that more concrete progress could be made on texts that are almost finalised, such as the one on the European Asylum Support Office (EASO). “The formal process of adopting this regulation will continue, including under the Slovenian Presidency”, said the minister. “All Mediterranean States have agreed to move forward with EASO, it is a key part of the Pact and its structure.”
The minister also mentioned the progress made on the regulation on the ‘filtering’ of migrants, which is “almost complete”, and on the external dimension of migration, which has been a major focus of the Portuguese Presidency.
Ministers had the opportunity over lunch to talk more broadly about migration and its external dimension, but some Member States also wanted to address other internal EU issues.
Refugees in Greece seeking asylum in the rest of the EU
The ministers were informed of a new phenomenon, reported by Germany and experienced by some other Member States such as the Benelux countries, France or Switzerland, a Schengen country; namely a significant increase in secondary movements of people who have been recognised as refugees in Greece and who arrive in these countries, by virtue of the right of free movement in Schengen, to lodge a new asylum application.
In a joint letter to the Commission on1 June, revealed by Politico and seen by EUROPE, the Interior ministers of the six countries expressed concern about a rising trend, with Germany, the country at the origin of the letter, having recorded 17,000 such applications since July 2020, it explained. These persons could not be returned to Greece since they had appealed to national courts and won their case, as the courts found that Greece did not welcome refugees well enough or allow them to be properly integrated into society, for example in the labour market.
“This is different from the Dublin returns, which have been suspended for several years” in Greece - explains one source - as the Dublin Regulation allows transfers for people awaiting an asylum decision who have already filed a case elsewhere. “This is a new phenomenon, which concerns people who are already holders of international protection” - says this source - and who should therefore have better living conditions in Greece.
Bilateral readmission agreements between Member States do exist, but in this case national courts have ruled that returns to Greece are not possible, thus posing a new headache for this handful of countries who consider this to be a “serious problem” for the functioning of the common asylum system.
The six countries are therefore asking the Commission to look into whether the living conditions of refugees in Greece comply with European standards. They also call for decisive action to combat abuses of Schengen travel documents and stress that a person can enjoy freedom of movement within Schengen for up to 90 days “if they meet the required criteria”, such as the minimum daily subsistence requirement.
These countries also want the Commission to work with Greece to improve these same living conditions.
On 9 June, Commissioner Ylva Johansson will receive Greek Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi in Brussels.
The latter also responded, in a letter, to the Commission and the six signatory ministers and stressed that Greece complies with all obligations at the external borders, for example in border surveillance and registration of migrants, which is also recognised by the six ministers.
“And we are not responsible for ‘irregular’ secondary flows, as we ensure that only passengers with appropriate travel documents can travel out of Greece.”
“Greece has been at the forefront of irregular arrivals since 2015, although we are currently managing to substantially reduce flows, by 80% in 2020 and by an additional 73% so far in 2021”, the minister recalled in his letter, convinced that the Member States must absolutely make progress on the Pact on Migration and Asylum, as he had said on Tuesday in Luxembourg.
Link to the Greek minister’s letter: https://bit.ly/34Waw3n (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)