According to a document dated Monday 5 January, the EU Council officially close, on 22 December, the written procedure leading to the adoption of the implementing decision establishing a solidarity pool for 2026 under the ‘Pact on Migration and Asylum’. The text was adopted despite two objections (from Hungary and Slovakia) and four abstentions (Cyprus, Latvia, Portugal and Spain).
This vote confirms the commitments already made in late December. The solidarity pool should make it possible to relocate at least 21,000 people or to provide the equivalent of €420 million to countries under heavy migratory pressure (see EUROPE 13778/24).
In an attached statement, Spain, which abstained from the vote, expressed reservations about the text, saying that the Council’s decision “deviates from the provisions of the AMMR (Asylum and Migration Management Regulation)”. In particular, it deplores the fact that several States have not fulfilled their contribution obligations and that certain contributions have been automatically reduced “without the Council having decided on these deductions”. According to Madrid, this would result in actual solidarity limited to 962 relocations and €74.66 million, well below the 30,000 relocations or €600 million identified by the Commission.
In this context, Spain is warning of a “negative precedent” for the “balance between responsibility and solidarity”, six months before the provisions take effect. However, it justifies its abstention by its commitment to the implementation of the Pact, presented as “a historic milestone” and which was concluded under the Spanish Presidency in 2023.
See the document: https://aeur.eu/f/k6w (Original version in French by Justine Manaud)