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EU member states agree: asylum procedures should be tightened

2023-06-08T22:01:52.632Z

Highlights: After years of negotiations, a large majority of EU member states have agreed on plans for a far-reaching reform of the EU asylum system. Asylum procedures in the EU are to be significantly tightened in view of the problems with illegal migration. In the future, for example, people arriving from countries considered safe will be placed in strictly controlled reception facilities under detention-like conditions after crossing the border. There, it would normally be checked within twelve weeks whether the applicant has a chance of asylum. Countries that do not want to take in refugees would be forced to pay compensation.



After years of negotiations, a large majority of EU member states have agreed on plans for a far-reaching reform of the EU asylum system. © Alexandros Michailidis/European Council/dpa

The EU states are working on a far-reaching reform of the EU asylum system. After much controversy, there is now a breakthrough. On a point that is important to them, the federal government must give in for the time being.

Luxembourg - Asylum procedures in the EU are to be significantly tightened in view of the problems with illegal migration. At a meeting of interior ministers in Luxembourg, a sufficiently large majority of member states voted in favour of comprehensive reform plans, as the Swedish Presidency announced yesterday evening after hours of difficult negotiations. Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) said: "These were not easy decisions for everyone at the table, but they were historic."

In particular, the reform plans that have now been agreed provide for a much tougher approach to migrants with no prospect of staying. In the future, for example, people arriving from countries considered safe will be placed in strictly controlled reception facilities under detention-like conditions after crossing the border. There, it would normally be checked within twelve weeks whether the applicant has a chance of asylum. If not, it should be returned immediately.

During the negotiations, the German government had strongly advocated that families with children be exempted from the so-called border procedures. In order to make the breakthrough possible, however, she ultimately had to accept that this could be possible after all.

EU Parliament has a say

After the decision, however, Federal Minister of the Interior Faeser said that the Federal Government, together with Portugal, Ireland and Luxembourg, would continue to advocate for exceptions. It is also conceivable that the EU Parliament will push through changes. It has a say in the reform and will negotiate the project with representatives of EU countries in the coming months.

In addition to the tightened asylum procedures, the plans also provide for more solidarity with the heavily burdened member states at the EU's external borders. In the future, it will no longer be voluntary, but mandatory. Countries that do not want to take in refugees would be forced to pay compensation.

In addition, the reform plans are intended to enable far-reaching cooperation projects with non-EU countries. According to the responsible commissioner, Ylva Johansson, rejected asylum seekers could in principle be deported to non-EU countries in the future. The only requirement should be that they have a connection to this country. What this must look like should be at the discretion of the EU member states responsible for the respective asylum procedure.

Focus on transit stays

The German government had actually made a strong case for not recognising a mere transit stay in a third country as a connection, but only, for example, by family members living in the country. However, this demand had to be abandoned in the course of the negotiations in order to allow an agreement on the plans for asylum reform. If it is adopted, Italy, for example, could send people coming back to the country via the Mediterranean if the government in Tunis agrees. In order to persuade them to agree, financial support could be provided, for example.

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My Area

A statement on the agreement also sets out the conditions under which authorities in the EU can declare asylum applications inadmissible without a detailed examination. This should therefore be possible if they are provided by refugees who have entered via a safe third country. The prerequisite for this should be that people could also be granted effective protection in this safe third country.

Renegotiation possible

Ideally, the remaining negotiations with the EU Parliament should be concluded before the end of the year. Then the laws could be passed before the European elections in June 2024. If this does not succeed, a change in the political balance of power could necessitate renegotiations.

Intensive work on the reform has been underway since the refugee crisis of 2015/2016. At that time, countries like Greece were overwhelmed by a mass influx of people from countries like Syria and hundreds of thousands were able to move on to other EU states unregistered. This should not have happened, because according to the so-called Dublin Regulation, asylum seekers are to be registered where they first entered the European Union. As a rule, this country is also responsible for the asylum application.

No complete unity

The reform was not supported at the meeting by Poland, Hungary, Malta, Slovakia and Bulgaria. After the agreement, the Czech Republic made it clear that it did not want to participate in the solidarity mechanism. Poland and Hungary had already made similar statements in the past.

However, Faeser did not let this spoil his mood in the evening. "I think it's really very easy to see," she said shortly after there had been applause in the meeting room for the successful vote. Now we have to work on the implementation and the concrete designs.

Before that, the government politicians of the Greens in particular could still face trouble. Criticism had come from the ranks of the German Greens shortly before the vote. Julian Pahlke, a member of the Bundestag, said: "The reform does not create a fair sharing of responsibility, which is a central problem for states like Italy." Also, the regulations on the distribution of refugees would be ineffective "if states can simply buy their way out and instead finance border protection". This would make "overcrowded mass camps" the new standard - Faeser should not agree to that. With regard to Faeser's top candidacy in Hesse, Pahlke said that the Federal Minister of the Interior must have the well-being of refugees in mind and not the tactics for her state election campaign.

Baerbock and Habeck stand behind compromise

Green Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, on the other hand, defended the approval of the party leadership. "The compromise is not an easy one at all. Part of honesty is that if we as the federal government had been able to decide on the reform alone, it would have looked different," she wrote in a statement. "But honesty also means that anyone who thinks that this compromise is unacceptable accepts that no one will be distributed in the future."

Baerbock's party colleague, Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck, made similar comments. "The fact that the EU can still come together is a value, especially at a time when we have to stand together as a Union," said the Green politician of the German Press Agency in Berlin. "I have great respect for those who come to different assessments for humanitarian reasons. I hope they also see that there are reasons to recognize this result." dpa

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2023-06-08

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