Brussels presents a thorny reform on Wednesday 23 September, five years after the 2015 refugee crisis. The fire two weeks ago in the Moria migrant camp, on the Greek island of Lesbos, further reminded us of the emergency. a common asylum policy, which in recent years has constantly come up against divisions between Member States. 

This "new Pact on Migration and Asylum" will be unveiled at midday by the European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, and Commission Vice-President Margaritis Schinas.

It must make compulsory the "solidarity" of all EU countries with the countries of first arrival of migrants, such as Greece, Italy or Malta, when the latter are "under pressure".

Thorny subject

Aid which does "not only" take the form of relocating asylum seekers to other EU countries, but can also translate into "return assistance" for people who are refused asylum to their country of origin, according to Ylva Johansson.

One way of getting around the persistent refusal of countries like those of the Visegrad group (Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia) to welcome asylum seekers, which resulted in the failure of the distribution quotas decided after 2015. But the subject turns out to be thorny, with some judging the alternatives to relocation impractical for small countries which do not necessarily have the means.

The Commission also wants to speed up asylum examination procedures, to quickly determine whether a person is clearly eligible, and to prevent applicants from living in camps in "uncertainty".

In order to increase returns, which are only effective in less than 30% of cases, the European executive wants to work more "closely" with their countries of origin.

"More pressure"

"There are many countries with which Europe trades, which Europe supports through development aid, through a security presence and which today do not agree to take back any national in the framework of renewals ", underlines the French Secretary of State for European Affairs Clément Beaune.

"This is not acceptable, I believe that we have the means, even if it is difficult of course, to change that, to sometimes put more pressure," he explained to AFP, citing among the possible levers for issuing visas.

The new system planned by the Commission must replace the Dublin regulation, the keystone of the current system which crystallized tensions by making the first country of arrival of a migrant bear the responsibility of his asylum application.

But "a country you enter must have a certain number of obligations: register people, possibly provide them with first aid, look at the files quickly to find out whether they have a chance of obtaining asylum or not", fact argue Clément Beaune.

"Only the country of entry can do it, I believe that this principle cannot be avoided."

"Acceptable compromise"

Long-awaited and repeatedly postponed, the Commission's proposal, which will have to be endorsed by Member States and Parliament, promises difficult discussions.

Ylva Johansson does not expect it to sound "cheers", but hopes it will be seen as an "acceptable compromise".

The Commissioner recalls that the situation is very different from 2015, the number of irregular arrivals in the EU having fallen in 2019 to 140,000 people.

And if in 2015, 90% of migrants were granted refugee status, today two-thirds are not entitled to international protection, she explains.

If she waits to "see the precise elements" of the proposal, the MEP Fabienne Keller (Renew Europe), author of a report on the evaluation of the implementation of the Dublin regulation, considers the whole "rather balanced between the values ​​which are ours (...) and a necessary firmness ".

"This is a strong step," said the former mayor of Strasbourg.

On the Green side, MEP Damien Carême is more dubious.

The end of Dublin?

"I fear that it is semantics", fears the former mayor of Grande-Synthe, who judges that the "principle of the first country of arrival is a disaster".

With AFP

The summary of the week

France 24 invites you to come back to the news that marked the week

I subscribe

Take international news everywhere with you!

Download the France 24 application

google-play-badge_FR