Several meetings will be held in the near future to try to advance the solidarity angle of the Pact on Migration and Asylum, with the meeting of the SCIFA group (Strategic Committee on Immigration, Frontiers and Asylum) on Tuesday 4 October and a meeting in Cyprus of the countries known as ‘Med5’ (Cyprus, Italy, Spain, Malta, Greece) on 7 and 8 October to discuss, among other things, the issue of the instrumentalisation of migration.
These two meetings will serve to prepare the Home Affairs Council on Friday 14 October in Luxembourg.
At the SCIFA meeting, delegations will try to make progress on how to amend the regulation on asylum and migration management on the basis of the suggestions made by the Czech Presidency of the EU Council (see EUROPE 13028/1). They will also discuss the external dimension of migration, with a specific focus on the non-alignment of Serbia’s visa policy.
In Cyprus, the five Member States will discuss the specific situation of these countries, which receive “a clearly disproportionate number of migrants compared to other European states”, Cypriot minister Nicos Nouris said on 23 September. “The ultimate goal of the summit is the revision of the existing legislative framework governing the European asylum and immigration system, so that it is based on the principle of equal solidarity and responsibility”, he added. And, according to the minister, Turkey will also be singled out “for systematically aiding, abetting and instrumentalising irregular migration flows” to Cyprus.
The Regulation on the instrumentalisation of migration, proposed in December 2021, is particularly important for Cyprus in this respect. The Czech Presidency of the EU Council is expected to publish a new compromise proposal around 10 October (see EUROPE 13015/11).
Cyprus has recently fought for a reference to its special situation with the northern part of the island and the mention of maritime border in this text as well. Cyprus received 13,818 asylum applications in July 2022, compared to 525 in the same period in 2021. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)