On Wednesday 10 April, MEPs ratified the various texts of the new ‘Pact on Migration and Asylum’ and the ‘Asylum Package’, putting an end to the uncertainty surrounding the outcome of certain votes and, above all, finalising a legislative process that began in 2016 and has been riddled with obstacles.
Two of the nine texts put to the vote proved to be more fragile than others, as they were highly controversial: - the regulation creating a border asylum procedure for people with little chance of obtaining asylum; the ‘Crisis’ text, which introduces derogations from the European right to asylum in situations of instrumentalisation of migrants, force majeure or other crises generating mass influxes.
These regulations, by rapporteurs Fabienne Keller (Renew Europe, French) and Spain’s Juan Fernando Lopez Aguilar (S&D), were finally adopted by 301 votes to 269, with 51 abstentions, and by 301 votes to 272, with 46 abstentions.
The report by Tomas Tobé (EPP, Swedish) on the management of migration and asylum (formerly known as the Dublin Regulation) received more support, with 322 votes in favour, 266 against and 31 abstentions. The regulation on the screening of migrants tabled by Birgit Sippel (S&D, German) was adopted by 366 votes to 229 with 26 abstentions, while the Eurodac regulation was adopted by 404 votes to 202 with 16 abstentions.
The ‘old texts’ from the 2016 ‘Asylum Package’, namely the Directive on the common asylum procedure, the Directive on reception conditions for asylum seekers, the Regulation on qualification for international protection and the Regulation on resettlement of refugees in the EU, were adopted by 329 votes to 253 with 40 abstentions, 340 votes to 249 with 34 abstentions, 398 votes to 162 with 60 abstentions and 452 votes to 154 with 14 abstentions respectively.
The European Parliament also voted on a report updating the ‘ECRIS-TCN’ criminal records system to make it interoperable with the new ‘screening’ regulation.
A “historic” vote
The President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the Belgian Prime Minister, Alexander de Croo, all hailed the vote as “historic”.
For Roberta Metsola, EU law will mean that Member States will no longer be left alone under pressure, and that responses to the challenge of migration will be both “fair and firm”, according to Ms von der Leyen.
“Europe is regaining control of its external borders” after years of complex debate, said a delighted Tomas Tobé.
The S&D Chair, Spain’s Iratxe García, said that “for the first time, there will be real solidarity at the centre” of European migration and asylum policies. Part of the S&D group, in particular the French and Italians, rejected a series of texts.
Before the vote, the main rapporteurs called on their colleagues to vote responsibly. The Socialists Birgit Sippel and Mr Lopez Aguilar said that the reform was far from “perfect”, but that it would provide “clearer rules” and improve the current situation.
This is in spite of the discomfort felt, particularly when it comes to dealing with situations of instrumentalisation, which Ms Sippel is not pleased with.
For Dutch MEP Sophie in't Veld (Renew Europe), it was a question of accepting the package. “There will be nothing in its place if we reject it”, she warned. “There are no alternatives, there will no longer be any rules, and this will be the end of the right of asylum in the EU”, she added, arguing that a rejection would allow the far right to “lead the way” in a potentially more right-wing Parliament.
For their part, the French Socialists, such as Sylvie Guillaume (S&D), had announced that they would only support the 2016 texts. The 2020 Pact was intended to “resolve the problems encountered within the EU with regard to asylum and migration. But the EU Council’s inflexible approach, which chose to deal with these issues solely from a security perspective, has not resulted in satisfactory texts”, she criticised. And the solidarity mechanism “has been emptied of its substance and the use of detention, including of children, has become widespread”.
This was also the opinion of Saskia Bricmont (Greens/EFA, Belgian), who saw it as a victory for “Fortress Europe”.
The reform of the European rules on migration and asylum, which has been in the pipeline since 2016, has several objectives: to strengthen solidarity with so-called countries of first entry in situations of migratory pressure or crisis (instrumentalisation, force majeure, etc.), by organising compulsory aid in the form of asylum seeker relocations (up to 30,000 people per year), financial measures (via aid of €20,000 per asylum seeker not relocated) or operational support.
In the event of a crisis, relocation would be the main aid measure, and the Member States concerned would have the right to delay the registration of asylum applications and to receive migrants less well. They will also be able to close official border crossing points to restrict entry.
In exchange for this solidarity, the countries of first entry will have to tighten controls on people crossing their external borders illegally, by carrying out identity, health and security checks for up to 7 days and detaining them for the same length of time (Screening Regulation).
Member States will also be able to make more frequent use of “border asylum procedures” (Asylum Procedure Regulation (APR)), i.e. accelerated examination procedures, for people with little chance of obtaining asylum.
In both cases, ‘APR’ and ‘screening’, there will be no exceptions for families or single minors who pose a risk to the security of Member States. However, a mechanism will be put in place to monitor compliance with fundamental rights.
The ‘APR’ also requires Member States to provide at least 30,000 places per year (and up to 120,000 per year) to monitor these people subject to the border procedure, prompting criticism of the creation of new large detention centres. The maximum duration of this procedure, coupled with the return decision, will be 12 weeks.
Eurodac will be a major database on migration, collecting the biometric data (facial image and fingerprints) of all migrants six years and older.
The regulation creating a (voluntary) European framework for the resettlement of refugees does not set binding annual targets, but Member States will receive €10,000 for each person resettled.
The Qualification Directive sets a minimum duration for refugee status and subsidiary protection, of 3 and 1 year respectively.
Lastly, the Reception Conditions Directive for asylum seekers will enable asylum seekers to enter Member States’ labour markets more quickly (no later than six months after registering their application) or to have easier access to language courses.
The Council of the EU are expected to formally validate the texts on 29 April. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)