The final piece of the European Union’s new migration and asylum pact, the crisis management regulation, joined the rest of the pieces after Germany gave in on one point and then Italy gave its approval. The agreement, announced by the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU, is an “important piece in the puzzle of the Migration and Asylum Pact,” said Swedish Migration Minister Maria Malner Stenergard.
In practice, the adopted text limits the acceptance of asylum applications and extends assessment periods for asylum seekers in countries declaring them to be in a crisis situation, and obliges Member States to welcome migrants or pay for their reception.
During the meeting of the 27 Interior Ministers, which took place last Thursday, the Italian representative disagreed with a point in the text, which ensured that non-governmental organizations that rescue migrants could not be accused of instrumentalizing of immigration “while there is no aim to destabilize the EU or any Member State”. This passage, spoiled by the Spanish to please the German government of Olaf Scholz, went down badly with the government of Giorgia Meloni.
Last week, the diplomacy heads of Italy and Germany expressed the two differences together. “Saving people from drowning at sea is a legal and European obligation,” said Annalena Baerbock, to which Antonio Tajani responded by saying that NGOs “cannot be some kind of magnet to attract illegal immigrants.”
Without this paragraph, Italians and Germans were satisfied. Scholz, who called the agreement “a historic turning point,” said the future pact “will effectively limit irregular migration in Europe and provide lasting assistance to states like Germany.” Meloni also congratulated the agreement, especially because Rome’s position was taken into account.
Diplomatic sources told AFP that the ambassadors of Poland and Hungary had rejected the deal. The point they oppose is the point that forces all countries to accept or, alternatively, pay for migrants. But now that the qualified majority has been reached (at least 55% of countries represent 65% of the EU population), the discussion moves to another level: the European Parliament. The European Commission hopes to complete the file before the European elections in June next year.
In September 2020, the project for a new migration and asylum pact was presented. The aim is to integrate the asylum procedure into migration management while managing the external borders and preparing for crisis situations. All this with a solidarity mechanism and the management of external relations with the main countries of origin and transit of migrants.
One of the central countries in the migration wave that ends in Italy is Tunisia. The Commission said it sent 60 million euros to that North African country this week. Brussels signed an agreement with Tunis in July. In exchange for 900 million in financial aid, the country would cooperate on migration issues under the leadership of Kais Saied. But criticism of the Tunisian regime’s human rights abuses led to the refusal of a delegation of MEPs to enter the country. On Monday, Saied said he had turned down the money. Not because it is a ‘small amount’, but because of the ‘disrespect’ with which the situation is handled.
Source: DN
