Greece is not satisfied with the progress of the work on the Asylum and Migration Management Regulation (AMMR, the former Dublin regulation) and considers in particular that the definition of situations of migratory pressure is too vague, whereas it should make it possible to trigger the solidarity mechanisms.
In a note from the Secretariat-General of the Council of the EU dated 12 January, the Greek government maintains a “substantial scrutiny reservation” on the whole proposal, which does not, at present, address its concerns and does not provide a sufficient balance between responsibility and solidarity for the countries at the EU’s external borders. “Greece has reiterated that the mechanism lacks automaticity” and that work needs to move in this direction, the note says.
With regard to situations of migratory pressure, Athens does not like the fact that the situation of a country must be “compared to the general situation in the Union” and wants to delete this reference, which is considered “problematic”, because “it is not specified who is responsible for assessing the general situation in the Union and how this situation is defined. The factors that make up the Union’s situation are not clearly determined. A comparison requires two specific measures, and here we have neither”.
Greece also wants all persons arriving and seeking asylum to be eligible for relocation under the solidarity contributions, including those who have been directed into an asylum procedure at the border. Athens is also of the opinion that support from a Member State through Frontex should not be taken into account as a solidarity contribution.
The Greek government also wants to abolish the annual Solidarity Forum, a kind of forum for weighing up possible support from member countries in the event of a pressure situation, as it does not add value.
The new German government also expressed some reservations in a note dated 12 January, and it is calling for asylum and migration reform to be targeted more at secondary flows of migrants.
Hungary also has a general reservation, advocating the package approach with the other texts of the Pact, and specifies certain elements, such as the fact that legal channels, such as resettlement of refugees in the EU, should be on a voluntary basis, as well as the need for greater flexibility in solidarity responses.
Asylum ‘Procedure’ Regulation
On the text of the ‘Asylum Procedure’ regulation, known as the ‘APR’, which introduces a single procedure for an asylum application rejection and a return decision, Germany is asking in particular for clarification of the voluntary return procedure and the principle of a time limit for requesting this procedure, which seems contradictory.
Berlin also questions the fact that a person concerned by a voluntary return has to surrender his or her travel documents to the competent authorities in order to prevent the risk of absconding, a provision which also seems contradictory. The German government also appreciates the flexibility provided for asylum and return decisions, which cannot always be made at the same time.
Pact: the ‘gradual’ path pursued by Paris
The French Presidency of the EU Council, for its part, launched a reflection on 12 January on how to take the Pact forward and submitted a note on a step-by-step approach consisting of putting certain elements “in place on an experimental basis or for a limited period of time”, for example through ‘sunset clauses’.
“Once a first step has been put in place and its effectiveness established, further steps can be considered”, says the note submitted on 12 January to national ambassadors to the EU.
The Presidency’s proposal is to agree on a ‘solid core’ of measures, and “one of the main challenges concerns controls and registration procedures at the common external border. It could be envisaged to implement, as a first step, some of the elements of the screening regulation”. The asylum procedure at the border would only take effect in the second step.
The same pace of progress should also be made in the area of solidarity, with financial and operational support measures for agencies and Member States, followed by support “in terms of reception effort with a new mechanism for the relocation of persons in need of protection, including the provision of assistance at sea”. The mechanism “should involve a sufficient number of Member States to allow a balanced and sustainable distribution of aid”.
Links to documents: https://bit.ly/3nzOz3O; https:bit.ly/33wctWV; https://bit.ly/3Ki1Jw9; https://bit.ly/3GJvVhm (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)