European asylum system: When it comes to illegal migration, Germany is abandoning the “role of broker”

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It was supposed to be Horst Seehofer's masterpiece in the year before the general election.

An exclamation mark of the man who, like hardly any other Union politician, opposed the course of Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) during the migration crisis in 2015.

At that time he was CSU chief and Bavarian Prime Minister.

Today he works as Federal Minister of the Interior in the cabinet and has a significant say in the future.

But despite all his efforts, he was unable to make the big project, a comprehensive reform of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS), come true.

That became clear in the last few meters of the German Council Presidency.

The reason for the failure may be varied: The reaction to Corona ties up a lot of energy across Europe - the Commission's reform proposal was therefore only available at the end of September.

The pandemic also complicates the personal exchange that is necessary in the struggle for compromises.

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Above all, however, the differences in content between the member states of the European Union (EU) have solidified in the years after the great crisis.

There is no longer any talk of possible laws, even an agreement on the design of a future CEAS has not been reached.

What is there: a progress report that documents the standstill.

Seehofer calls this a "solid foundation".

This is what a football coach sounds like who wants to find nice words despite a 5-0 defeat of his team.

Secondary migration routes in 2019

Source: Infographic Die Welt

According to WELT information, the Federal Ministry of the Interior has not expected the major asylum reform for a long time.

In the role of the Council Presidency, however, you swallow the anger.

In internal discussions, the “role of the broker” was repeatedly emphasized in a joint solution, as documents show.

Explicitly “German positions” would therefore only be increasingly represented after the Council Presidency - that is, from January.

The EU countries basically only agree that rejected asylum seekers should be returned quickly.

The decisive factor in gaining control over irregular migration, however, are the processes starting with entry into the EU.

There is no progress here: To what extent can the first asylum procedures already take place at the external borders?

How are those seeking protection then distributed within the EU?

And how do you make sure that these wheels interlock?

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For Germany, the "prevention of secondary migration" plays an important role, as a spokeswoman for the Ministry of the Interior explained when asked - but how this can succeed in its own opinion is something the House of Seehofer is not addressing aggressively in these months.

After the camp on to mainland Europe?

The migrants are held in camps on Gran Canaria for a maximum of 72 hours.

After that they are released, many of them are planning to continue their journey to countries such as France, Spain or Germany.

Our video reporter is on site.

Source: WELT / Matthis Kattnig, Tim Röhn

The Ministry of the Interior is actually of the opinion that not enough is being done in Europe to prevent asylum seekers from continuing their journey uncontrolled - and Germany is one of the main destination countries.

The aim is to increase the pressure on asylum seekers to stay in the country that is responsible for processing the application.

There should be no change in this responsibility.

Anyone who continues to travel should no longer receive any social benefits.

The migration policy spokeswoman for the FDP parliamentary group accuses the government of downplaying a central question during the Council Presidency.

"As right as it is to assume the role of an honest broker in Europe, it is just as wrong to define the central topic of secondary migration as a specifically German interest and to exclude it during your own Council Presidency," Teuteberg told WELT.

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The "problem of secondary migration" is the "Achilles' heel of a common European asylum system".

In practice, distribution quotas remain obsolete "if it is not possible to ensure that those seeking protection also remain in the Member State that is responsible for their asylum procedure according to common European rules."

In contrast to the Ministry of the Interior, the Union parliamentary group is already openly addressing the disappointment with the compromise reached.

With regard to secondary migration, Mathias Middelberg (CDU), domestic political spokesman for the parliamentary group, says: "The EU Commission's proposal that is currently on the table has unfortunately too little effect here, as a transfer of responsibility is still planned after the deadline." “Instead, member states that have once become responsible for asylum seekers should remain permanently responsible.” In addition, the “reception services for asylum seekers should in principle only be provided by the permanently responsible member state”.

Alexander Throm (CDU), chairman of the parliamentary group in the interior committee, speaks of "outstanding importance, as we are the main target country" with a view to curbing secondary migration.

Germany's efforts should "contrary to the Commission's proposal, aim at an EU country having perpetual responsibility for an asylum seeker".

Otherwise every distribution mechanism can be bypassed.

Looking back on the Council Presidency, the coalition partner SPD mainly looks at the unanswered question of distribution.

Overall, they remained “below expectations,” says Lars Castellucci, migration policy spokesman for the SPD parliamentary group.

It is now all the more important to achieve “concrete improvements”.

“One example is the coalition of European countries that are supporting Greece in relocating refugees.

This is how you combine humanity and solidarity with regulated procedures, ”explained the SPD politician.

While Castellucci is holding back on the subject of secondary migration, opposition politician Luise Amtsberg, spokeswoman for refugee policy for the Green parliamentary group, expresses her criticism: "With the prevention of secondary migration, the federal government is once again setting a completely wrong focus," said Amtsberg.

"If all asylum seekers were to be distributed directly to the member states and the reception conditions were harmonized, the problem would be solved by itself." It is disappointing that the government has not succeeded in "achieving at least a basic consensus on the core issues of European asylum policy" , said Amtsberg.

"The blockage bearings are the same, the reasons are the same."

The Portuguese Presidency will start in a few weeks.

In government circles, it is not assumed that the issue of migration is of outstanding importance for Portugal.

Officially, however, positive messages are still being placed.

Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johannsson said she expected "clear results".

She also praised the “constructive approach” of all EU states so far.

Why does she speak so cautiously?

Unlike Germany, the EU remains in the “role of broker”.