Negotiations began on Tuesday 13 June between the European Parliament and the EU Council on the dossiers relating to the Asylum and Migration Management Regulation (AMMR) and the Directive revising the EU Single Permit following the agreement reached on both dossiers on 8 June by the EU’s interior ministers (see EUROPE 13198/8, 13197/2).
On the same day, the negotiators also resumed their political discussions on the ‘Eurodac’ regulation, which creates a new European database on migration. The negotiations on ‘Eurodac’, which began at the end of last year, are set to continue during the Spanish Presidency of the EU Council.
‘AMMR’
The negotiators met again on Tuesday for a meeting designed primarily to present their respective mandates and launch discussions.
In particular, the discussion highlighted the fact that, during their internal negotiations, the two parties have each managed to strike a good balance between their different sensitivities, which could also help the trilogue discussions.
However, the sticking points are already known: the European Parliament is more ambitious than the EU Council on the compulsory solidarity mechanism and proposes a higher proportion of asylum seeker relocations, whereas the EU Council equates the number of relocations (30,000 people per year) with financial aid (€600 million per year, i.e. €20,000 per asylum seeker not relocated).
The European Parliament’s mandate does not contain any figures, but it does state that aid should correspond to needs and projections. That’s potentially a lot more than 30,000 people.
During the discussions, the Swedish Presidency also assured the European Parliament that the EU Council’s mandate on the Crisis Regulation would arrive at the beginning of the Spanish Presidency at the latest. For Parliament, this missing piece, which organises solidarity in the event of a crisis, is essential if all the negotiations are to make progress. The next trilogue could take place during the European Parliament plenary session in July.
Single Permit
The Swedish Presidency and the team of negotiators led by Spain’s Javier Moreno Sanchez (S&D) have also launched their discussions on the revision of the Single Permit Directive, with a political trilogue scheduled for September.
The meeting served to present the respective positions.
In the meantime, technical discussions should enable progress to be made on the main points of disagreement: - the length of procedures, which the European Parliament has shortened; - the right to keep work and residence permits in the event of job loss (2 months for the EU Council, 9 months for the European Parliament); - the unique nature of the procedure for residence and work.
‘Eurodac’
Discussions on 13 June focused in particular on: - security alerts, which the EU Council wants to extend to any person, according to one source, a point which could be the subject of a majority on the European Parliament side; - the data of persons resettled in the EU, which could be transmitted from third countries. The inclusion of a new category covering people benefiting from temporary protection does not meet with consensus within the European Parliament either, and is currently being put on hold.
Asylum procedures
Negotiations on the Asylum Procedures Regulation (APR), which was also the subject of a full agreement at the EU Council on 8 June, had already begun a few weeks ago, with the EU Council adopting a partial mandate in December.
The most sensitive issue - the new border procedure, which Parliament has proposed to make optional for Member States and which establishes a link with the concept of ‘safe third country’ and the connection of a rejected asylum seeker with the third country to which he or she will be returned - is not expected to be discussed until the autumn, according to a source familiar with the dossier.
A further trilogue on the other aspects of the regulation is scheduled for 27 June.
Links to the final public mandates from the EU Council on ‘AMMR’ and ‘APR’: https://aeur.eu/f/7g4 , https://aeur.eu/f/7g5 (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)