It can be done.
At the end of a videoconference of EU interior ministers on Thursday, during which they had their first discussion on a long-awaited European Commission proposal on migration, Germany’s Horst Seehofer expressed cautious optimism that the EU could reach a political agreement on at least some of the proposal’s key points by the end of the year.
All previous attempts to reform the bloc’s asylum policies have failed because of deep divisions between member countries. One of the key areas of disagreement has been between coastline states such as Italy, Greece and Malta that have been pushing for mandatory redistribution of asylum seekers, and Central European nations like Hungary, Austria and Poland that oppose any obligation to take in refugees.
The Commission’s new proposal, unveiled late last month, has three pillars; the introduction of pre-entry screening for those who arrive on EU shores, a new “solidarity and responsibility” mechanism — in which relocation is one of the options but is not mandatory and countries can instead opt for other ways to show solidarity, such as managing the return of people who are denied asylum, so-called return sponsorship — and an emphasis on the need to work with non-EU states to strike deals to make returns easier.
Ahead of the meeting, the German presidency of the Council put forward a working document, seen by POLITICO, proposing that national capitals take a “step-by-step approach.” That means focussing on the most political parts of the Commission proposal such as procedures before people enter the EU, preventing abuse of the system and solidarity. The aim is “to achieve political agreement on these key aspects” at a meeting of interior ministers in early December.
A deal on the more technical parts of the plan, such as establishing a “strong and robust EU asylum agency,” will pass to the Portuguese presidency that takes over in January.
Seehofer, in a final press conference, said that “we are not faced with an easy task” but Thursday’s meeting “gives me reasons for optimism that we can succeed.” He added that “despite my optimism” he wasn’t saying they will succeed “but chances are high.”
However, he sidestepped a question on whether majority voting instead of unanimity will be used, stressing that “our prime aim is to ensure solutions that have the backing of all member states” and he didn’t rule out that “one or two points” would need be to solved by national leaders.
Seehofer’s cautious optimism was echoed by Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson. “No member states said they are fully satisfied with everything in the proposal, they all have some concerns, they all have some questions,” she said, but “they are not obstacles that are impossible to deal with in the negotiations to come.”
EU officials stress that no country rejected the Commission proposal. But some long-standing concerns have already resurfaced.
In a statement issued after the meeting, Poland reiterated “that solidarity cannot be equated with the obligatory relocation of migrants” and stressed that “Poland is making efforts to develop a common V4 approach to key issues.” (Poland holds the presidency of the Visegrad Group, or V4, which also contains the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia.)
Austrian Interior Minister Karl Nehammer said in a statement to a news agency that “there must also be no distribution [of asylum seekers] through the back door, for example through return sponsorships.”
Before the meeting, Malta’s Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri told POLITICO in a statement that Valletta “appreciates the Commission’s effort to seek effective solutions to address irregular migration” but “we feel that the new pact does not go far enough on solidarity. Relocation, which is the most effective form of solidarity, remains entirely voluntary.”
To bridge these gaps, interior ministers will hold an extraordinary meeting, in person this time, next month in Brussels, Seehofer said.
The post Germany’s Horst Seehofer: Yes, we can get a political deal on migration appeared first on Politico.
