The new negotiation meeting between the European Parliament and the Swedish Presidency of the Council of the EU on the Eurodac regulation made progress and took place in a constructive atmosphere, according to reports of two sources on Friday 14 April.
Regarding the introduction of a dedicated category for persons rescued at sea in the Eurodac database – which allows people arriving in the EU and requesting asylum to be registered to determine the country responsible for them and monitoring their journey – an agreement was reached to continue technical discussions to ensure that this category will only be used for statistical purposes and not to allow for a differentiated treatment of these people, since some of the actors involved want to insist on the fact that these arrivals by sea are illegal.
The Swedish Presidency has planned three more meetings during its term, but depending on the progress made on the Pact on Migration and Asylum and the other texts under discussion (‘screening of migrants’, ‘asylum procedures’, ‘asylum and migration management’, ‘crisis management’), further trilogues may still be necessary under the Spanish Presidency of the EU Council.
Next week, the European Parliament is expected to confirm the mandates adopted on 28 March in the Committee on Civil Liberties on these four other texts (see EUROPE 13151/6), but the trilogues can only start with ‘screening’ since the Council of the EU still needs to adopt mandates on the other three regulations. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)