“The Greek Minister for Migration, Notis Mitarachi, and I had a good and frank discussion on the migration situation in Greece”, said EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson on Wednesday 9 June. She cited the migrant reception camps on the Greek islands and the respect of fundamental rights at the EU’s external borders as well as the state of play of the Pact on Migration and Asylum.
The letter from six Member States on the phenomenon of refugees in Greece travelling to their territory under the right to free movement and reapplying for asylum (see EUROPE 12736/10) was also discussed.
Ms Johansson wanted, in particular, assurance from her counterpart that the migrants’ living conditions next winter will be dignified.
Mr Mitarachi confirmed that new infrastructure was being created. A new centre, which will replace the one in Moria that was destroyed last year, is expected to be operational soon (see EUROPE 12615/7).
On the issue of secondary movements of refugees from Greece, the Commissioner called for “bilateral dialogues” between the countries concerned and Athens. She said she “cannot change” a situation where migrants who first apply for asylum in Greece are allowed to move freely in the EU for 90 days and then receive favourable court rulings in a second host country preventing their return to Greece.
Real breakthrough on the Pact
The two leaders also returned to the announcement the previous day that five southern EU countries would lift their block on the proposed regulation creating the European Union Agency for Asylum. On the table since 2016 (see EUROPE 12736/10), this legislative proposal will help Member States on the ground in processing asylum applications and harmonising decisions to some extent.
In a letter, these countries - Greece, Cyprus, Spain, Italy, Malta - say they are ready to adopt the operational and technical parts of this regulation as a sign of goodwill. They now expect similar gestures from other member states on the Pact, in particular on the issue of responsibility at the external borders.
However, the five Mediterranean countries request that several articles of this regulation (13, 14 and 22) only enter into force once a global agreement on the Pact is reached. These articles concern notably the monitoring and evaluation mechanism and disproportionate pressure. These countries claim that these three more political articles are closely linked to the cross-cutting issue of fair sharing of responsibilities, which is not decided.
“We wanted to show that we can also take a step towards a new, viable and fair pact”, but it is clear “that the Member States will have to have this debate on the external borders and make compromises”, said Mr Mitarachi.
This outstretched hand was well received by the Commission, which sees it as a real breakthrough. However, one diplomat said that this had yet to be achieved and that the logic of balancing the different texts of the Pact could continue to complicate matters.
Link to the letter of the five Mediterranean countries: https://bit.ly/3zor6qC
While the subject did not come up during their discussion, Ms Johansson reacted, during a press briefing, to the use of sound cannons by the Greek coast guard to scare away migrants, calling it “bizarre”. She insisted that these sound cannons are not funded by the EU.
Towards the adoption of conclusions at the European Summit
At Italy’s request, EU leaders will debate EU migration policy and adopt conclusions on Thursday 24 June.
According to a first draft, dated 7 June and seen by EUROPE, the EU27 will call for “continued vigilance and sustained support for Member States’ efforts on all aspects of migration management”, even if “overall flows remain low”.
“In order to avoid loss of life in the Mediterranean and to reduce the pressure on European borders, mutually beneficial cooperation with third countries of origin and transit will be intensified”, the draft conclusions say. To this end, the European Council is expected to invite “the Commission and the High Representative, in cooperation with the Member States, to propose concrete actions for priority countries”, with precise objectives, measures and deadlines.
Link to the draft European Council conclusions: https://bit.ly/3v6aWPd (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)