After lengthy discussions on Thursday 29 and Friday 30 June (see EUROPE 13212/1), the EU27 failed, in the end, to adopt any conclusions on European migration policy at the conclusion of their summit, in the face of persistent resistance from Poland and Hungary.
The European leaders therefore opted for conclusions from the President of the European Council, to which were added references to Poland’s financial demands to take care of Ukrainian refugees, as well as a reference to the fact that Warsaw and Budapest still do not recognise the use of qualified majority voting to make progress on the various texts of the ‘Asylum and Migration’ Pact.
Much of the discussion among European leaders focused on these legal interpretations of the Treaties and the conclusions of previous European summits, such as the one in June 2018, when the EU27 indicated that a consensus had to be found on the reform of the ‘Dublin’ Regulation. This reform has since been replaced by a new text presented at the end of 2020.
According to these conclusions by the President of the European Council, approved by 25 Member States, “Poland and Hungary declared that, in the context of the ongoing work on the Pact on Migration and Asylum, in line with the previous European Council conclusions of December 2016, June 2018 and June 2019, there is a need to find consensus on an effective migration and asylum policy, that, in the context of solidarity measures, relocation and resettlement should be on a voluntary basis and that all forms of solidarity should be considered equally valid and not serve as a potential pull factor for irregular migration”.
Since February, “a lot of progress has been made”, said the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, with satisfaction. He emphasised the “strong support” of these twenty-five countries and explained on several occasions that these same countries did not share the interpretation of Warsaw and Budapest.
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has welcomed the agreement reached on 8 June by EU interior ministers (see EUROPE 13198/8) on the Pact on Migration and Asylum and the fact that negotiations can now move forward with the European Parliament. She pointed out that the Commission was also making progress on the external dimension of migration policy to “break” the networks of smugglers and develop alternative legal routes.
Asked about the threats made by Warsaw and Budapest not to apply the terms of the 8 June agreement, in particular the solidarity mechanism, the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, said that “everyone can shoulder their fair share of the burden. Hosting or making a financial contribution: there is a choice”. Solidarity must be “important for everyone. We can’t leave Member States on their own, we have to divide this up according to our size and economic resources”, he added.
Italy’s leader, Giorgia Meloni, said she was “very satisfied with the results of this European Council” and considered that “the central themes proposed by Italy have become reality, such as the attention to be paid to the external dimension of migration”. The Italian Prime Minister welcomed the attention given to Tunisia and the cooperation project with this country, which she believes could become a model for the EU’s relations with third countries of origin or transit (see EUROPE 13213/6).
Asked specifically about Poland’s decision to block, she said she was “never disappointed by anyone who defends their national interests”. Poland “is looking after Ukrainian refugees and doesn’t want to pay twice”, she added. In her opinion, when it comes to migration, “we will never find unanimous agreement, because history, geography and politics are all different! The only way is to work on the external dimension. And there is consensus on this point”.
“I would like to emphasise the very broad consensus between the Member States on what is fundamental in immigration policies, in particular the agreement with the countries of origin, the commitment to the development strategy in the countries of origin, the collaboration with the countries of origin to create channels for legal immigration”, declared Portuguese Prime Minister, António Costa. And “Hungary and Poland have not opposed this external dimension”, he noted.
The Polish Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, gave his own interpretation of the discussions and the rules in force: “For the time being, we stand by our position that the only valid regulation, the only binding regulation, is the provision of the 2018 European Council. But if it were to be breached, i.e. if the law were broken, it would not be the first time. This would not be the first time that the European Commission and the Council of the European Union have behaved in a way that is not consistent with the rule of law. So, of course, we are ready to prepare a case to submit to the European Court of Justice, but there is still a long way to go”.
Link to the conclusions of the President of the European Council: https://aeur.eu/f/7us (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic with the editorial staff)