On Thursday 29 June, Europe’s leaders once again had a tense discussion on migration, during which the Polish and Hungarian leaders tried to obtain guarantees on the Pact on Migration and Asylum, the ‘solidarity’ section of which they reject, and which provides for money to be paid to frontline countries if they fail to relocate asylum seekers to their countries.
In the absence of a consensus on the new wording and assurances requested by these two countries, the EU27 decided, after several hours of discussion, not to adopt the draft conclusions on this subject and to resume their discussions on Friday.
However, the provisional draft conclusions contained only two relatively consensual chapters in which the leaders expressed their sadness at the recent shipwreck off the coast of Greece, which claimed at least 78 lives, and called on the Commission to continue its work on all migratory routes (see EUROPE 13211/7).
The latest draft text, dated 28 June, also included a reference to the need to agree on solutions “in line with international law”, at a time when a number of Member States are campaigning for arrangements to outsource the management of migration or the return of migrants to third countries with which they have no ties.
On Thursday, the rebellion came mainly from the Polish Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, who called for a return to the logic of consensus on migration, enshrined in the conclusions of the European Council in 2018. He also called for further financial aid, in particular for the reception of Ukrainian refugees. He proposed amendments to this effect, emphasising the voluntary nature of relocation.
First thing in the morning, the Polish Prime Minister highlighted the low level of support received by his country to manage the arrival of Ukrainian refugees, “a few dozen euros per inhabitant per refugee”, whereas “if a refugee from the Middle East is not accepted, we have to pay a fine of €20,000 or more”. “This is not our agreement. This is why we are proposing, and have already proposed, a referendum”, he added.
Poland and Hungary were so “annoyed at being marginalised” by the other Member States on the Pact on Migration and Asylum, two key texts of which were approved by a qualified majority of Member States on 8 June (see EUROPE 13197/1), “that they wanted to block the conclusions”, confirmed the Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, at the end of the first day’s work.
The Belgian Prime Minister, Alexander de Croo, also noted that the discussions on migration were “complicated” and hoped that “sleeping on it would bear advice”.
He also highlighted the “very constructive” role played by the Italian Prime Minister , Giorgia Meloni, Italy having been one of the countries pushing hardest “for conclusions, continuing the work and finding solutions to convince” these two countries.
See the conclusions of the European Council of 28 June: https://aeur.eu/f/7u9 (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic with the Editorial staff)