EU interior ministers still hold “widely divergent” views on the Pact on Migration and Asylum, with some countries maintaining their position, especially regarding the logic of a ‘package’, said Slovenian Minister Aleš Hojs at the end of the informal ministerial meeting held on 15 July in Kranj (Slovenia).
This discussion on how to move forward with the Pact on Migration and Asylum took place over lunch. “If progress is to be made, it will depend on a willingness to compromise”, added Hojs, while also noting that faster progress on the ‘Eurodac’ regulation is, however, still possible.
The Slovenian Presidency of the EU Council wanted to sound out Member States on their readiness to adopt a pragmatic position regarding the various texts of the Pact, especially those that are at a more advanced stage of the examination process.
“Currently, eight legislative proposals in the field of asylum/filtering and one in the field of returns are under consideration by the EU Council. The well-known position of some Member States is that nothing is agreed until such time as everything is agreed. The key issue in the package is the balance between responsibility and solidarity. However, some of the proposed instruments are not, in themselves, directly relevant to this balance and their adoption will contribute to much-needed immediate improvements at ground level”, argued the Slovenian Presidency in a note sent to delegations ahead of the meeting.
EU Commissioner Ylva Johansson was less negative in her approach than her counterpart. “I don’t agree that we are stuck”, she said on Thursday, citing recent agreements on the Blue Card Directive (see EUROPE 12721/22) or the European Asylum Agency (see EUROPE 12751/14). “In my opinion, there is the convergence we need to move forward”, she said.
According to one source, the discussion nevertheless showed the persistence of the same blocks, which cover the responsibility of so-called frontline countries and the solidarity that the other Member States should show. Two groups have formed in this respect, one between the countries that favour the logic of a legislative package and the other group of whose countries who are more pragmatic.
“It seems difficult to find a solution”, the source said, noting that it would have to start with those items over which there is the most agreement, such as a common return policy.
Tabling the idea of the distribution of migrants is “a guaranteed failure”, added the source. They did note, moreover, that even fewer Member States in 2021 support initiatives like the 2019 Malta agreement, which had struggled to bring together eight to nine countries around a voluntary mechanism for the disembarkation of migrants rescued at sea (see EUROPE 12344/6).
Solidarity with Lithuania
Ms Johansson also said that Member States had supported Lithuania, which is facing an increase in migrant arrivals from Belarus. She asked the EU agency Frontex to step up its efforts at the Lithuanian border and confirmed that the European Asylum Agency (EASO) would send out 90 staff to be active on the ground.
The European Parliament’s report on Frontex’s activities, which was presented the same morning in the Committee on Civil Liberties, was not discussed. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)