On Wednesday 7 June, the Member States will once again discuss the draft mandates for the Asylum and Migration Management Regulation (AMMR) and the Asylum Procedures Regulation (APR), and will attempt to clear the way for an agreement by the EU’s interior ministers.
The Swedish Presidency of the Council of the EU was due to formulate new compromise texts on 6 June, and the discussions on 7 June are expected to focus in particular on the annual quantified commitments in terms of the relocation of asylum seekers and the capacity to carry out border procedures (between physical and staffed centres).
The question of establishing an annual ceiling for the implementation of border procedures, pushed for by the so-called “frontline” countries in the south of the EU, and beyond which these countries would no longer be obliged to implement these procedures, is also one of the open points.
In any case, the discussions between the Member States on Monday evening have not yet made it possible to determine whether the two mandates can be adopted by the ministers on Thursday. “The tone was not necessarily very engaging” on these two texts, reported a source, noting that there were still a fair number of points to be settled.
But it could also mean that the Member States are trying to work out all the details with a view to reaching an agreement.
According to another source, “4 to 5 Member States” indicated on Monday evening their willingness to adopt the texts on the table, but the unknown factor lies in the decision that certain large countries such as France, Germany and above all Italy will take. “Success is by no means certain”, warned this diplomatic source on Tuesday 6 June.
A number of countries, such as the Netherlands, France and Germany, do not like the idea of an annual ceiling and would like a country not to be able to unilaterally decide that it has been reached. Other countries, such as Spain, are very concerned about the situation of unaccompanied minors and the fact that they should not be covered by the border procedure.
Still others, such as Germany and Luxembourg, want to maintain the exclusion of families with children under the age of 12 from the border procedure, but these countries are unlikely to be successful.
However, it is on the more general balance between solidarity and responsibility that the agreement should be based.
As a reminder, these two projects would enable ‘frontline’ countries to receive compulsory aid in situations of migratory pressure, in the form of relocating asylum seekers, financial aid or any other form of aid that corresponds to the means of the member countries.
Poland and Hungary have already said they will oppose the texts. In particular, Poland has already explained that it is opposed to the amount to be paid of €22,000 per migrant, proposed by the Swedish Presidency for countries preferring to contribute financially to solidarity. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)