On Wednesday 20 September, the Member States will discuss preparations for the next Justice and Home Affairs Council on 28 September in Brussels. In this context, they may discuss the recent events in Lampedusa, Sicily, and the slow start to the EU-Tunisia agreement, while an exchange of views on the external dimension of migration is on the ministers’ agenda.
There will also be an update on the progress of the ‘Pact on Migration and Asylum’ covering the internal dimension.
While the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, announced on Sunday 17 September that migration would be added to the agenda of the informal European Council in Granada at the beginning of October, the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU had not yet, on 18 September, added any new items to the agenda of the EU Council for the 28th, nor specified whether the latest events would be discussed in greater depth.
An exchange of views on the last outstanding text of the Crisis Regulation, which the EU Council has yet to adopt, was also not yet scheduled for 28 September.
This regulation is intended to respond to emergency migratory situations, but several countries are opposed to the text on the table for various reasons. Germany, for example, feels that the provisions on fundamental rights are insufficient, while other countries feel that the derogations do not go far enough.
On Sunday 17 September, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, visited Lampedusa alongside the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, after thousands of people had arrived on the small island in the space of a few days. More than 8,000 people arrived, exceeding the population of the island.
In response to Rome’s requests for assistance from its European partners, particularly concerning the voluntary relocation of migrants to other Member States, the President of the Commission has put forward a 10-point action plan.
This comprises:
- strengthen the support provided to Italy by the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) and the European Border and Coast Guard (Frontex);
- support the transfer of people from Lampedusa, in particular to other Member States;
- intensify returns by resuming concerted contacts with the main countries of origin of new arrivals, namely Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal and Burkina Faso;
- support the prevention of departures by establishing operational partnerships with countries of origin and transit to combat migrant smuggling;
- strengthen border surveillance at sea and air surveillance, including through Frontex, and study the possibilities of developing naval missions in the Mediterranean;
- take measures to limit the use of boats unsuitable for navigation;
- strengthen the support provided by the EUAA for the rapid application of border procedures and accelerated procedures;
- increase the number of awareness and communication campaigns to discourage crossings;
- intensify cooperation with the UNHCR and the IOM;
- and finally, to implement the EU-Tunisia Memorandum of Understanding.
Doubts over the agreement with Tunisia
Doubts are emerging, however, as to the feasibility of this agreement with Tunisia, while measures to prevent departures from Tunisia have still not been finalised.
While the Commission assured us on 18 September that it remains “determined” to make this agreement work, and has decided to reproduce this type of agreement with other third countries, other sources express doubts about its feasibility and point to the lack of will on the part of the Tunisian authorities.
The naval mission mentioned by Ms von der Leyen could also give rise to tensions, as some countries consider that such a mission should support the migrant rescue operations carried out by NGOs, while Giorgia Meloni envisages more of a mission to prevent arrivals. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)