EU ministers and representatives of interior ministers will meet in Brussels on 25 November to present a united front on the management of migrant arrivals at the EU’s external borders, in particular on the Central Mediterranean migration route.
The aim of the meeting will be to reiterate the need for a European solution, through the ‘Asylum Pact’, and to support short-term actions such as renewed funding to third countries of departure or cooperation on returns.
However, the meeting will not lead to any conclusions and the ministers are also expected to be cautious on the issue of NGO rescues at sea, as no specific decisions are expected.
The dispute between Paris and Rome at the beginning of November over the fate of the Ocean Viking, the ship of the NGO SOS Méditerranée, is at the origin of this extraordinary meeting. The two countries had in fact passed back and forth the responsibility for the disembarkation of 234 migrants rescued at sea, which Paris had finally decided to disembark.
France and Italy are expected to discuss a possible new framework for NGO operations on Friday, while there are clear rules for merchant ships, but things are less clear with NGOs, according to an EU diplomat. Some countries will however ensure that the discussion does not focus on a framework that is too strict and that makes rescue operations difficult.
This cooperation framework, which would aim to anticipate situations of political tension and organise landings, “would be set up around the Commission with those who have a vocation to participate”, the diplomat added.
This discussion on sea rescues will also be linked to the one on the voluntary solidarity mechanism, set up in June under the French Presidency of the EU Council, which provides for relocation commitments from Italy and frontline countries for 8,000 people, including 3,500 for France and 3,500 for Germany. Only 117 people have been relocated since June and Paris has put its promises on hold after its falling out with Italy, although it has also benefited from the mechanism for some of the Ocean Viking migrants.
The confirmation of France’s commitments will therefore depend in part on the climate of confidence that emerges on Friday. In any case, the general aim will be to revitalise this voluntary mechanism and speed up the implementation of commitments.
Solidarity and adequate responsibility
The meeting should also provide an opportunity for the ministers to reaffirm their desire to reach a conclusion on the new ‘Pact on Migration and Asylum’, the “only possible way forward”, according to a diplomatic source, especially as several other routes, including the Western Balkans, are currently under pressure and all Member States are concerned. The Czech Presidency of the EU Council is currently working on a legislative concept of solidarity and will try to make progress on 29 November in a ‘SCIFA’ group.
Its concept is for an annual minimum threshold of relocation or financial assistance to be incorporated into the Asylum and Migration Management Regulation. At the same time, it is working on the concept of adequate responsibility with adjustments for the target group of border procedures and the possibility of lowering the required threshold of the recognition rate of asylum applications for a nationality, if a country is under pressure and no longer has the capacity to process all border procedures. It is also working on so-called ‘Dublin criteria’ to rebalance the system.
Eurodac, European Parliament is almost ready
The Czech Presidency is also expected to test the readiness of Member States to move forward on a mini-package of agreements with the European Parliament on 29 November. In particular, Member States will have to decide whether they can make progress on the Reception Conditions Directive for asylum seekers, which stems from the former ‘Asylum Package’. In exchange, the European Parliament would agree to start trilogues, as early as December on the Eurodac regulation, and then early next year on the ‘Screening’ regulation.
Contacted by EUROPE, the office of rapporteur Jorge Buxadé Villalba (ECR, Spanish) said that everything is ready to proceed to a vote on the Eurodac report in December, with the MEP hoping that a majority of political groups will agree to go ahead. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)