The European Commission presented, on Monday 21 November, an EU Action Plan of twenty measures to respond to the increase in arrivals on the Central Mediterranean migration route and to coordinate the action of Member States in search and rescue operations at sea, while France and Italy have recently clashed over the disembarkation of migrants rescued by the NGO ship Ocean Viking (see EUROPE 13061/30).
The Action Plan, which is being submitted to the EU interior ministers - who will meet on 25 November in Brussels - is based on three pillars, explained the EU Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson: - working with partner countries and international organisations; - a more coordinated EU approach on search and rescue; - reinforcing the implementation of the Voluntary Solidarity Mechanism based on the relocation of 8,000 people from frontline countries and efforts to implement the New Pact on Migration and Asylum.
The 25 November meeting, initially motivated by the recent Franco-Italian crisis, will serve in general to address the increase in arrivals on this Central Mediterranean migration route (more than 50% increase since 2021), without forgetting the other migratory routes, such as that of the Western Balkans, which are also of concern to the EU27.
However, the commissioner said, most of the migrants who arrive “are not in need of protection”. Egyptians, Bangladeshis and Indians are among the nationalities strongly represented on this Central Mediterranean migration route. The commissioner recalled that she visited Bangladesh last week to discuss cooperation on returns, but also new legal channels for economic migration to the EU.
On the first pillar, the plan calls for strengthening cooperation with partner countries and international organisations. “The EU will strengthen the capacities of Tunisia, Egypt and Libya to ensure better border and migration management. It will reinforce the fight against migrant smuggling and enhance diplomatic engagement on returns, while stepping up legal pathways to the EU”. A ‘Team Europe’ initiative dedicated to the Central Mediterranean will be launched before the end of 2022.
On the second pillar, the Commissioner wants Member States and all actors involved in search and rescue activities in the Central Mediterranean to rely on the European Contact Group on Search and Rescue created by the Pact on Migration and Asylum. This contact group, which did not meet in 2022, should be reactivated.
Discussions should also be promoted within “the International Maritime Organization on the need for a specific framework and guidelines for ships, with a focus on search and rescue activities”, the Commission proposes.
Regarding the Voluntary Solidarity Mechanism, there is a strong need to streamline administrative procedures, as only 117 people (out of a promised 8,000 places) have been relocated to the EU since June.
The Commission therefore proposes here to revise the ‘standard operating procedures’ for relocation, so as to make them more efficient and faster.
More references to specific relocation figures
On the Pact on Migration and Asylum, the Commission will again ask Member States on Friday to move forward with the various texts on the table.
The Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU submitted new ideas for a meeting of the working group on Wednesday 23 November, the last one before a ‘SCIFA’ meeting on 29 November and the ‘Home Affairs’ Council on 8 December.
According to a note of 18 November, the Presidency will again sound out Member States on the need to include a minimum annual threshold of relocations under the solidarity mechanism of the Regulation on Asylum and Migration Management (RAMM), but, unlike previous notes, Prague no longer mentions precise figures (between 5,000 and 10,000 in a latest version).
Member States will be free to choose which type of people they relocate (particularly vulnerable asylum seekers or other profiles) and will continue to be able to assist in an alternative way, but each state will have to follow a principle of “fair contribution”. The Presidency also wants to set a minimum annual threshold for financial assistance to frontline countries.
The note also takes up the idea of helping to relieve frontline countries by suspending so-called ‘Dublin’ transfers if the initial solidarity commitments (relocations, financial aid, alternative aid) remain too low. However, relocation should remain the preferred option.
The Czech Presidency replaces as well its concept of flexible responsibility with “adequate responsibility” and clarifies its ideas for the application of border procedures, touching on maximum nationality thresholds (recognition rates for asylum applications lodged) to help frontline countries deal with pressure situations.
Progress with the European Parliament
On 17 November, a meeting took place between representatives of the European Parliament and the Czech Presidency of the EU Council to make progress in the first interinstitutional trilogue negotiation sessions before the end of the year, a source told EUROPE.
The European Parliament formally asked the EU Council to add the Reception Conditions Directive (left over from the former ‘Asylum’ Package of 2016) to the texts on the qualification of asylum seekers and on the EU resettlement framework. If the Member States validate this request, these pre-Interinstitutional Agreements already made in 2018 would thus be officially validated.
In exchange, the Parliament committed itself to accepting a first trilogue in December on the ‘Eurodac’ regulation, but will only start trilogues on the ‘Screening’ regulation in the spring.
Link to the European Commission’s action plan: https://aeur.eu/f/45n (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)