Von der Leyen and Michel ensure a change of pace even if we have to deal with the other governments
The question is always present, the European inertia in the migration dossier. A fundamental defect that fails to make a supranational synthesis on such a thorny issue, especially if addressed individually in the countries. For a very simple reason: beyond the good intentions of progressives, acceptance actually causes significant repercussions in societies. Because integrating and including socially is not easy. Because many times the combination of clandestinity and degradation results in bloody news, which shakes everyone in the same way.
No wonder, when at the end of last year another tug of war broke out between France and Italy on the subject, it revealed the fact that the French news had just been shaken by the terrible murder of a teenager by an irregular from the North African . Now, in Italy, we have some points of acceleration: there was the sinking of the Cutro, there is the daily trend of arrivals and there is the prospect of a new “migration bomb” from Tunisia. In the face of this, the European rhythm remains, as it was a decade ago, very slow in relation to the turmoil of history. At the last EU Council, at the end of March, the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, had the political substance to bring the matter to the table, obtaining in the conclusions an update of the points established at the previous extraordinary meeting, in February. An occasion in which some objectives were defined, including the improvement of repatriations, the defense of external borders (with the opening to the construction of barriers at physical borders) and the “specificity” of maritime borders.
Between the two nominations, in fact, there was the drama on the coast of Calabria, which brought Italy’s exposure to the phenomenon back to center stage. A tragedy that led the President of the European Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen, to write to the 27 Heads of State and Government, promising to mobilize, for 2023, another 110 million euros, in addition to the 208 already committed, to combat against human traffickers. “The EU – said the number one of the European Executive- must work to strengthen the external borders with a new strategic approach””. On more or less the same day, the President of the Council, Charles Michel, stated in the European Parliament: “We are working to reach an EU pact on migration and asylum by the end of the mandate, but even now we have to work even better on terms of cooperation with countries of origin and transit to fight together against traffickers and criminals who profit from misery and poverty. We must also do more to open up legal channels for migration”. On the pact front, however, the words spoken in early January by the Swedish ambassador to the EU still resonate. Stockholm, in fact, currently holds the biannual presidency of the Council of the Union It would be difficult, he said, for such a pact to materialize “before the spring of 2024”.
Words which are partially correct, but which nevertheless prove all the difficulties. Just as the Tunisian knot is a knot that hangs over Italy in the first place, but concerns the whole of Europe. In recent days, the Commissioner for the Economy Gentiloni traveled to that country to verify the possibility of a community financial assistance plan. And also the day before yesterday, in Ambrosetti’s workshop, he underlined the need to “stabilize the economy of that country”. But even on this, as on all other issues, time is running out. And with the flow trend underway, June risks being too late.
Source: IL Tempo
Emma Fitzgerald is an accomplished political journalist and author at The Nation View. With a background in political science and international relations, she has a deep understanding of the political landscape and the forces that shape it.
