The migration policy of the European Union (EU) is one of the issues that will mark the Spanish six-month presidency of the Council, which begins on July 1, and which Madrid intends to approve during its mandate.
On June 8, the Council of the EU reached an agreement, by majority, on the reform of asylum rules in the EU, allowing negotiations to start with the European Parliament, which had adopted its position on the legislation in April.
The Western Mediterranean route refers to irregular arrivals in Spain, both by sea, to mainland Spain, and by land, to the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla in North Africa.
This route is used mainly by immigrants from Algeria and Morocco, but people from many sub-Saharan African countries also try to reach Europe via this route.
According to the most recent data from the European Border and Coast Guard Agency – Frontex, in the first five months of the year, the number of crossings detected decreased by 6%, to 3,977, compared to the same period last year. .
The Spanish presidency will have the task of leading the negotiations between the co-legislators so that the process is finalized on April 24, still in this legislature -with the European elections scheduled between June 4 and 9-, but Madrid aims to close the process still during his mandate, which ends on December 31, and included the migration issue in the priority “Strengthening the unity of the EU”, one of the four indicated.
According to one of the texts approved by the EU ministers responsible for Migration, which defines a mandatory but flexible solidarity within the EU to respond to asylum seekers, Member States must accommodate a certain number of applicants who arrive at a EU country subject to migratory pressures.
If they refuse, they have to pay €20,000 for each rejected asylum seeker.
The amounts will be deposited in a fund managed by the European Commission and destined to finance projects related to migration management.
The EU foresees the relocation of 30,000 immigrants a year and a contribution of 660 million euros to the fund destined to finance migration policy.
A second approved text determines that the 27 accelerate the evaluation in the border centers, within a maximum period of three months, of the asylum applications of the migrants with the least statistical probability of obtaining refugee status, to facilitate their return to their country of origin or transit.
The agreement was approved by a qualified majority, with Hungary and Poland voting against and Bulgaria, Malta, Slovakia and Lithuania abstaining.
The objective of the Migration and Asylum Pact is to regulate the management of asylum and migration and to regulate asylum procedures.
Source: TSF
