On Wednesday 4 October in Strasbourg, MEPs once again urged the Member States to negotiate the ‘Pact on Migration and Asylum’ as quickly as possible, and in particular the last missing piece - the ‘Crisis’ Regulation - which was being discussed by the Member States in Brussels on the same day and was finally approved (see other news).
However, in the presence of Commission Vice-President Margarítis Schinás, MEPs continued to express differing opinions on how to manage the arrival of migrants in the EU. German EPP MEP Manfred Weber argued in favour of the agreement with Tunisia, which he saw as the only possible solution, and which should be replicated with other third countries. Other MEPs, notably from the Greens/EFA Group, felt that the EU could manage these arrivals and should develop legal entry channels.
While the pressure of arrivals may indeed be putting some countries under stress, “collectively, we can do more and better” in terms of reception, said Philippe Lamberts (Greens/EFA, Belgian).
Like other elected representatives, he felt that the generalised opening up of borders, like “Fortress Europe”, was not a “viable” solution.
For his part, Manfred Weber also mentioned solutions being considered in some Member States, such as outsourcing asylum procedures or building physical barriers.
For the S&D Group, Germany’s Gabriele Bischoff assured us that the negotiations on the ‘Pact’ would respect “our values” and would therefore be “difficult”.
For his part, Mr Schinás once again called on the Member States to put an end to ad hoc solutions and to stop acting as “firemen” when crises arise. He also defended partnerships with third countries, such as the one with Tunisia.
There is “no more time to lose” in adopting the texts of the ‘Pact’, he insisted.
Contacts with Tunisia
On Wednesday, the European Commission had to renew its commitment to the agreement signed with Tunisia in July after the Tunisian President, Kaïs Saïed, rejected the memorandum of understanding and the planned migration payments.
The Commission said it was in contact with the Tunisian authorities and announced that it had already disbursed €60 million in aid to Tunisia this week. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)