The Czech Presidency of the EU Council is expected to decide on Wednesday 16 November, after a meeting of Member States’ ambassadors dedicated to the agenda of the next formal meeting of the Home Affairs Council on 8-9 December, whether or not to convene an extraordinary meeting of EU interior ministers, a European source indicated on Monday 14 November.
Such a meeting would serve to discuss the tensions that have arisen in recent days between France and Italy over the disembarkation of the 230 migrants rescued by the NGO SOS Méditerranée and solutions for coordinating the disembarkation of migrants rescued at sea.
It was Commission Vice-President Margarítis Schinás who called for an extraordinary meeting of the kind over the weekend in an interview with Politico. He also announced that the Commission is working on “an action plan” to respond to these situations and to manage migrant arrivals on this Central Mediterranean migration route more widely.
More generally, the Commission noted on 14 November the urgency for Member States to agree on the proposals of the ‘Pact on Migration and Asylum’, which contains, among other things, elements to address the issue of disembarkations of people rescued at sea.
Four member countries - Italy, Malta, Cyprus and Greece - also issued a joint statement on Saturday 12 November.
They criticise the fact that the number of relocation pledges made by Member States participating in the voluntary solidarity mechanism agreed in June under the French Presidency of the EU Council “represents a very small fraction of the actual number of irregular arrivals we have received so far this year”.
Furthermore, “so far, the mechanism has been slow to achieve its stated objective of alleviating the burden that we, as frontline Member States, are constantly exposed to, as only a small number of relocations have been implemented so far. It is unfortunate and disappointing”.
The four countries also criticise the “modus operandi of these private vessels”, which is “not in line with the spirit of the international legal framework for search and rescue operations, which must be respected. Each State must effectively exercise its jurisdiction and control over ships flying its flag”.
“There is an urgent need for a serious discussion on how to better coordinate these operations in the Mediterranean, including ensuring that all such private vessels comply with the relevant international conventions and other applicable rules, and that all flag states fulfil their responsibilities in accordance with their international obligations”, the joint statement added. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)