Relocation or return sponsorship. MEPs question whether the new Migration Pact will bring about real change. [ Ссылка ] #SOTEU #SOTEU20 #eudebates #Migration #Migrants #Asylum #refugees #Asylum #integration #Relocation Jan-Christoph OETJEN eudebates new Migration and Asylum Pact in European Parliament

A fresh start on migration: Building confidence and striking a new balance between responsibility and solidarity.

Relocation or return sponsorship.

These are the most prominent features of the mandatory solidarity mechanism involving all Member States, underpinning the new European Pact on Migration and Asylum, presented today in Brussels by Vice-President Margaritis Schinas and EU Commissioner Ylva Johansson.

The new Migration Pact is insufficient for the majority of EP groups. Some demand compulsory relocation of refugees; others want a firmer stance on irregular arrivals.


The Civil Liberties Committee held a first debate about the Commission’s proposals with Vice-President Margaritis Schinas and Commissioner Ylva Johansson on Thursday. Some MEPs considered the initiative to be “a step in the right direction”, to help front-line countries, and others admitted it might be the only way forward, given the position of several EU member states. All requested more information about how the pact would be applied on the ground.

Many speakers referred to the situation on Lesvos, following the fire in Moria refugee camp, and asked whether the new rules will prevent that humanitarian disaster from being repeated. They raised questions about whether fundamental rights will be respected in the new screening and border procedures and the detention of asylum-seekers. Several regretted that the Commission has not removed the contentious principle of the current Dublin Regulation, that the country of first-entry must deal with an asylum-claim.

[ Ссылка ] #SOTEU #SOTEU20 #eudebates #Migration #Migrants #Asylum #refugees #Asylum #integration #Relocation

EU countries that do not want to transfer refugees to their territory would be given the option to sponsor returns of those without a right to stay instead; MEPs wondered what will happen if most member states opt for the latter. There were also questions raised about the enforcement mechanisms to ensure the new rules are effectively applied.

Some MEPs complained that cooperation with third countries does not include the establishment of hotspots to process asylum requests outside European territory and insisted the EU must be tougher on smugglers.

The Pact, subject to Member States evaluation (the Czech Republic has already expressed criticism), reads as follows: “States will be required to repatriate – within eight months – a quota of migrants from the country of first entry. Should not all returns be completed within eight months, the partner State will welcome on its territory those who are still to be returned.”

[ Ссылка ] #SOTEU #SOTEU20 #eudebates #Migration #Migrants #Asylum #refugees #Asylum #integration #Relocation

The mechanism will be automatically triggered for migrants rescued at sea, with pre-determined directions for all landings. There are two options: a standard procedure for asylum applications, or a faster “border procedure.” “We are proposing today a European solution, to rebuild trust between Member States and to restore citizens’ confidence in our capacity to manage migration as a Union”, said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte the Pact is “an important step towards a truly European migration policy. The European Council must now combine solidarity and responsibility. We need certainty on returns and redistribution: the countries of arrival cannot handle migration flows alone on behalf of Europe.”

свернуть