The main rapporteurs for the ‘Asylum and Migration Pact’, namely Sweden’s Tomas Tobé (EPP), rapporteur on the ‘Regulation on Asylum and Migration Management’ or ‘RAMM’, France’s Fabienne Keller (Renew Europe), responsible for Asylum Procedures Regulation or ‘APR’, and Spain’s Juan Fernando López Aguilar (S&D), rapporteur on situations of crisis, instrumentalisation and force majeure, called on their European Parliament colleagues on Tuesday 9 April to support, in plenary on 10 April, around 10 regulations and directives agreed with the EU Council to reform European asylum and migration policies.
In particular, the Swede called on them to show “loyalty” towards these negotiations, which began in 2020 for the five most recent texts and, since 2016, for a series of other texts.
On Wednesday, the elected representatives will be asked to vote on the regulations: - ‘RAMM’, which overhauls ‘Dublin’ and organises voluntary relocation of up to 30,000 asylum seekers per year to countries of first entry; - ‘APR’ (which creates a new asylum procedure at the border to speed up the processing of applications deemed to be unfounded); - ‘Crisis’; - ‘Screening’ of migrants arriving irregularly at the EU’s external borders, led by Birgit Sippel (S&D, German); - ‘Eurodac’, led by Spain’s Jorge Buxadé (ECR).
They will also have to vote on the former texts of the 2016 ‘Asylum’ Package, relating to asylum procedures (response times, assistance for asylum seekers), the qualification of asylum seekers (the conditions for being eligible to apply for protection), the reception conditions for asylum seekers (which speeds up entry into the labour market) and the European programme for the resettlement of refugees in the EU.
Several provisional agreements had been reached on these initial texts from 2016 to late 2022 (see EUROPE 13088/6), and the five texts presented in September 2020 were the subject of a trilogue agreement on 19 December 2023. They were subsequently confirmed by the EU Council on 8 February, and then by the Parliamentary Committee on 14 February (see EUROPE 13350/11).
However, on the eve of this major confirmation in plenary, some sources were cautious, anticipating a “close vote” and being unable to give a prediction.
Tomas Tobé said he was “confident” that the various texts would receive sufficient support if the main political groups remained resolute in their voting. The EPP group is to draw up its voting instructions early on Wednesday afternoon.
Within the S&D, the French delegation, led in particular by Raphaël Glucksmann (French), is expected to vote against most of the new 2020 regulations, but to support a number of texts from the 2016 ‘Asylum’ Package that are seen as improving conditions for asylum seekers.
According to one source, two-thirds of S&D MEPs are expected to vote in favour of the majority of texts, with the remainder still undecided.
In the EPP, the French are also likely to defect on some texts, but without opting for wholesale rejection. In the ID group, the French will only support the texts on Eurodac, which create a large database on migration, particularly irregular migration, and ‘Screening’, which go in the “right direction”, explained Jean-Paul Garraud, even if they remain “insufficient”. Polish MEPs in PiS (ECR) and Hungarian MEPs in Fidezs are expected to follow suit.
As for the rest, the French delegation and probably the entire ID group will reject a ‘Pact’ that “organises migratory submersion” and “proposes nothing” to stop the flow of migrants or the networks of smugglers, added Mr Garraud.
The Greens/EFA and The Left groups are also expected to reject several texts, mainly ‘APR’ and ‘Crisis’, which they consider to be detrimental to migrants’ rights.
Indeed, the ‘Crisis’ text would give Member States the option of being less welcoming of migrants in situations such as instrumentalisation by a third country, or of easier recourse to accelerated procedures. In the parliamentary committee, the ‘APR’ and ‘Crisis’ texts received the least support.
According to several sources, the two regulations remain the most precarious for Wednesday’s vote. The ECR group could also, as in committee, not support them, believing that they do not go far enough in the derogations and flexibility given to Member States.
Asked about a scenario in which a particular text would be rejected, France’s Fabienne Keller (Renew Europe) admitted on Tuesday that “if one falls, so does the coherence of the whole”, as the European Parliament had been strongly committed to the “package” approach from the outset.
Several sources also admitted on Tuesday that they were considering possible scenarios ahead of the final plenary session on 22 April.
Link to the call: https://aeur.eu/f/bny (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)