When Pedro Sánchez assumes the rotating presidency of the European Union next July, he will put the reform of the common immigration system among his priorities. Spain’s is a “closing & rdquor; (the European legislature ends in February 2024), and therefore it is necessary to choose carefully the dossiers to which attention is going to be paid. The EU Migration and Asylum Pact He will be one of those chosen, as confirmed by government sources. A fair, predictable and humane distribution of the burdens caused by illegal flows of people is sought. This is a particularly sensitive issue in the countries of entry, such as Spain, Italy or Greece. “We are going to try to promote it as much as we can, although we know that it is complicated,” they say in the Executive.
In particular, and within this reform, Spain will press for the EU to prevent the closure of internal borders as a way of controlling the so-called “secondary movements & rdquor; of immigrants on European soil. At present, France keeps nine of its border crossings with Spain closed. It carries out controls that are intended, among other things, to prevent North Africans who have entered Spain illegally reach their final destination in France, where there are large Moroccan and Algerian communitiesas they explain diplomatic sources. The Government of Emmanuel Macron ordered its closure at the beginning of the Covid pandemic like the rest of the 27. It is allowed by an exception in the Schengen open border agreements, temporarily. But Macron keeps them closed three years later. Madrid makes Paris ugly, which he considers an abuse of a measure that should be limited in time.
“There are differences between France and Spain in the negotiation of the Migration and Asylum legislative package. France wants to maintain the possibility of closing its border points as an exception to the Schengen rules, and Spain requests that the conditions to be able to close be more restrictive& rdquor ;, explains another european diplomatic source.
“I discussed it with the president, and what we want is to close a good deal, not close just to close,” the Socialist MEP assures this newspaper javier moreno, rapporteur in the negotiations of one of the European directives on migration. “One of the issues is that of borders. If we have created the Schengen system, it is not to be able to open and close it whenever we want; There are conditions that must be respected.”
immigrant quotas
The Migration and Asylum Pact is deeply complex and divides the EU countries. An attempt was made to move forward in 2018, but it failed. The countries of the south, such as Italy, Spain and Greece, ask for a reliable and transparent system of sharing the burdens that immigration entails for the countries of entry. Spain, Italy, Greece and Malta They presented in 2020 a concrete proposal to advance a quota system. It remains to be seen if the new right-wing and ultra-right government of Giorgia Meloni in Rome supports that agreement or wants to harden it. Other countries, such as the Baltics or the Netherlands, are opposed to the distribution quota system. In Germany, there are different views between the Greens and the Liberals within the coalition government. Countries like Finland propose a flexible system, in which the burdens are shared, for example with higher economic contributions, but not necessarily with fixed distribution quotas.
Sources from Moncloa confirm that the President of the Government is already polling the 27 during the tour that he is carrying out through all the countries before assuming the European presidency to find out, precisely, his position on a Migration and Asylum Pact. But they warn that “the situation has changed a lot” since the document prepared by the southern countries, with “basic ideas.” The Executive would be surprised if Italy now signs it point by point. And they even point to new approaches, beyond the problems faced by countries of entry such as Spain or Italy itself, in reference to the fact that immigration is also a “security” problem, as evidenced by the wave of immigrants that Morocco sent to Ceuta or the actions of Belarus that put pressure on the eastern border of the EU, favoring the arrival of foreigners in Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.
The Government has all this in mind, with a view to seeking an agreement, and also intends to introduce into the debate a historic Spanish claim that is to help the countries of origin to mitigate migratory flows and establish circular, organized migration agreements , regulated to work and even study, for a period of time. But, meanwhile, the president has added allies as evidenced in the Spanish-Portuguese summit held on Tuesday and Wednesday in Lanzarote where Spain and Portugal have promised to promote a common migration policy in the EU.
Involvement of the European Parliament
“The agreement on the New Migration and Asylum Pact is more urgent than ever and we are making tangible progress,” they explain from the Commission’s representation in Spain. “We have a clear roadmap with a strong commitment from the European Parliament and the Council Presidency… We are on our way to concluding the negotiations before the end of the current legislative period in February 2024 & rdquor ;.
Brussels gives as an example the advances in the decisions to advance the fingerprint system for asylum seekers (Eurodac) or the progress at a technical level in legal proposals for migration, such as the long-term residence directive and the single permit for entry and work
Now the ball is in the court of the co-legislators. Last September, the European Parliament and the rotating presidencies of the Council agreed on a joint roadmap for the reform of the EU Migration and Asylum Pact. This roadmap will conclude with the adoption of the legislative proposals by Parliament and each of the countries. A qualified majority is enough, so there will be no veto from the most rocky countries with immigration.
Related news
In addition to the summits of Heads of State and Government, during the Spanish presidency a total of 25 meetings of ministers will be held throughout the territory (Check here the provisional calendar of the Spanish presidency of the EU).
From July 19 to 21, the EU Interior Ministers will meet in Logroño the Justice and Home Affairs Council (JAI), which draws up cooperation and common policies on different cross-border issues, “with the aim of creating a space of freedom, security and justice throughout the EU& rdquor ;. The final blow of the presidency will be at a summit of leaders in the Alhambra in Granada on October 6. There, a few weeks before the elections if everything follows its foreseeable course, Pedro Sánchez could collect the revenue of having managed to launch the Migration and Asylum Pact. Or pay the political price of not having succeeded.