The willingness among European countries to divide immigrants among themselves is minimal. This is evident from the initial ideas presented by the European Commission about the Migration Pact, which will come into effect next June and mean a tightening of migration policy.
The distribution system, intended to relieve the burden on arrival countries such as Italy and Greece, is an important part of the tightened European migration approach. But now that the introduction of this approach is getting closer, almost no one wants to promise the required shelter places.
Many governments say they are already under great migration pressure. The European Commission now partly agrees: the presentation that European Commissioner Magnus Brunner gave on Tuesday about the progress of the pact was full of concessions and exceptions for stubborn member states, in an attempt to maintain support for the European Migration Pact.
At the same time, Brunner was pleased to note that the number of irregular arrivals is declining: by 35 percent last year. According to the European Commissioner, this is thanks to effective migration deals. But as far as he is concerned, the numbers will go down much further. “We are taking back control,” Brunner said.
Faster assessment
Anyone arriving in Europe will be assessed and admitted or sent back more quickly in the new system – at least that is the intention. In exchange for the major role that the arrival countries take on, they could send tens of thousands of migrants to other EU countries if they are overloaded. But who did this apply to, and who would provide care? This was Brunner’s job.
That task turned out to be quite thankless. Many Member States that are in the picture to relieve the burden on the arrival countries have no need to show solidarity, they told Brunner. They already receive enough migrants themselves, they think, or they experience resistance among their population.
In addition, many destination countries for migrants, often in Northern Europe, complain that the Southern European arrival countries allow people to travel elsewhere in the EU. This goes against the Dublin Regulation – the agreement that a migrant goes through the asylum procedure in the country where he or she was first registered. In practice, this rule is hardly enforced. As long as this happens, the willingness to accept migrants is nil.
Gesture
Brunner’s solution is a two-part gesture. A number of countries will be granted an exception to their solidarity mechanism, in whole or in part. This includes Poland and Austria, due to the reception of asylum seekers and Ukrainians in recent years and the repeated attempts by Russia and Belarus to send migrants across the Polish border.
According to the Commission, there is a ‘risk of migratory pressure’ in other countries – including the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and France – but it now appears that these countries will participate in the system. In that system, countries can take over migrants, but also buy off their share (for 20,000 euros per migrant) or send aid or border guards to Southern Europe. The outgoing cabinet has already said that it will opt for buyouts if it has to contribute something.
However, these countries will be especially happy with Brunner’s other commitment. If there are ‘systemic deficiencies’ among Member States requesting assistance with reception, the report states, contributing countries do not have to fulfill their obligations.
In other words: the Netherlands or Germany can point to the lack of compliance with the Dublin Regulation in Italy or Greece if one of those countries approaches the Commission due to overload. “It’s not like they wake up in the morning and can decide for themselves,” explains an EU official. “The Commission must investigate and determine this.”
The question is whether the Southern European countries have also been reassured. Greece, Cyprus, Italy and Spain are recognized by the Commission as the countries with the highest migration pressure. These four may report later if they say they cannot handle the numbers. But the question is whether sufficient governments are ready to make additional shelters available.
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