With one month to go before the entry into force of the Pact on Migration and Asylum, scheduled for 12 June, the European Commission gives a mixed assessment of progress in a press release published on Friday 8 May. While Member States have ensured “implementation is well on track, with solid progress already achieved”, gaps remain, requiring “continued joint efforts” to finalise the project, according to Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice-President.
The Commission calls for the urgent finalisation of screening infrastructure, border procedures and the new Eurodac system, a central biometric database for identifying asylum seekers and certain irregular migrants.
The implementation of legal guarantees and the fundamental rights monitoring mechanism also remains a priority - a concern already expressed by the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the EU (see EUROPE 13860/13).
The Commission has mobilised €3 billion to support this transition. While illegal border crossings in the EU will have fallen by 26% by 2025 (see EUROPE B13787A10), Magnus Brunner, Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration, pointed out that the Pact was only a “start” for resilient migration management. In his words, this reform, “the largest of the European asylum and migration system”, will put in place “the most modern border management system in the world”. (Original version in French by Justine Manaud)