«December 20, 2023 will go down in history. It is the day that the EU reached a fundamental agreement on a new set of rules to manage migration and asylum.” The emphasis given by Roberta Metsola may seem excessive. But it is not. The President of the European Parliament is right when she highlights the importance of the agreement reached yesterday with the Council. It is the famous Pact on which Giorgia Meloni has been working for a year in close synergy with Ursula von der Leyen. The President of the Commission assures that “it will guarantee an effective European response to this challenge, meaning that Europeans they will decide who comes to the EU and who can stay there, not the traffickers. It means protecting those in need.” The five pillars on which the agreement was reached, which are in addition to four others already agreed, address all the main aspects of migratory flows: from the screening of irregular migrants upon arrival in the EU, to the collection of biometric data, to presentation procedures and management of asylum applications, the rules for determining which Member State is responsible for managing an asylum application, but also cooperation and solidarity between Member States and the management of crisis situations. All this does not mean that the emergency will be resolved overnight. What was defined yesterday is the regulatory framework that will have to be put into practice.
There are already those who are withdrawing, such as Hungary, which rejects the agreement “with the utmost firmness”. “We will not let anyone enter against our will,” declares Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto. There are many changes compared to the past. The objective is to go beyond the Dublin Treaty, which until now has placed the entire “burden” of migration on the countries of first entry, especially Italy. Now the “obligatory solidarity mechanism” is being introduced, according to which, in the case of strong migratory pressure on some States (as this year on Italy), the other European partners will have to make a choice: accept relocation within the its borders of a percentage of migrants or pay a financial contribution to the nation under pressure. The new regulation sets the minimum limit for relocation at 30 thousand asylum seekers and the economic contribution at 600 million euros. The calculation of each State’s contribution will vary depending on the size of its population (50%) and its GDP (50%). If the commitment of third countries is considered “insufficient”, the beneficiary State may request that the others directly assume responsibility for examining requests for protection. A series of criteria are also established that define the “crisis situation”, in order to limit discretion as much as possible. The reform of the Eurodac regulation, however, will allow for better identification of migrants; in fact, facial images will be added to the fingerprints. All information will flow into a single database. Anyone who does not meet the requirements to stay in Europe will be subject to pre-entry screening (identification, collection of biometric data and health examination) lasting a maximum of seven days.
Border control is also expected to be strengthened, one of the requests that the Italian government was most pleased with. Asylum or repatriation procedures at borders will have to be “conducted” within a maximum period of twelve weeks. The actual processing of asylum applications will, however, have to take place within six months. Migrants who have their application rejected will have to be repatriated within three months. Anyone who declares falsely will always be subject to the border procedure immediately after screening. Finally, the capacity considered “adequate” to carry out border procedures is set at 30 thousand locations. Each state will have an annual limit on applications for analysis. The Minister of the Interior, Matteo Piantedosi, defines this Pact as “a great success for Europe and Italy” and claims the role played by the Meloni government: “We have brought the issue of migration back to the center of the European agenda”. That the direction has really changed is demonstrated by the unanimous reaction of NGOs, which have always been in favor of the indiscriminate entry of migrants: “It is a historic failure, rights are being dismantled”, say Sea-Watch, Sea-Eye, Maldusa, Mediterranea Saving Humans, Open Arms, ResQ People Saving People, AlarmPhone and Humanitarian Maritime Rescue. Elly Schlein is on their side: “We see more lights than shadows.”
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.
