Swedish rapporteur Tomas Tobé (EPP) will try to get the European Parliament to vote in July on the Asylum and Migration Management Regulation (AMMR), the flagship text of the ‘Pact on Migration and Asylum’ which organises solidarity in times of migratory pressure (see EUROPE 12820/6), several sources said on Friday 11 March.
A very ambitious target, according to these sources, which may not be met, but which has the merit of maintaining an intense work rhythm. Negotiators are currently working on the ‘Dublin’ chapter of the regulation, in which the European Commission had added additional criteria for processing an asylum application, such as siblings already in the EU.
Discussions are currently taking place on the retention of the country of first entry criterion, which some groups want to abolish, but others, such as the EPP and Renew Europe, want to keep.
The left-wing groups also maintain the demand for an automatic relocation of asylum seekers to countries with low numbers of applications for people who have no links (family or educational) with other member countries.
The ECR and ID groups insist on the transfer of asylum seekers to third countries.
On the ‘asylum procedures’ report, championed by French MEP Fabienne Keller (Renew Europe), work is currently focusing on the conditions of the procedure at the border, such as the intervention of agencies, appeal procedures, staffing, the location of centres, and the mechanism for monitoring fundamental rights, another source said.
The state of play on this and other Pact issues is, however, very much dependent on Tomas Tobé’s report and what he will decide on the solidarity mechanism.
Neither can it be excluded that the development of the war in Ukraine will influence the various reports. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)