EU plans faster procedures for asylum seekers

The EU's 27 interior ministers negotiated on Thursday all day at the Council meeting in Luxembourg, so that they could adopt a comprehensive reform of asylum procedures and immigration management, prepared for years. “has light at the end of the tunnel,” said a delegate from the ongoing negotiations after nearly 12 hours of discussion. Swedish Council Chairman Maria Malmer Stenergard had interrupted the sessions three times and had sometimes changed the texts following declarations of rejection by delegations.

Later, at last, large EU member states such as Germany and Italy were on board, but not the smaller ones. The decision was not unanimously made, but by the qualified majority of member states representing at least 65% of the EU population. Poland and Hungary, which still do not want to respect the EU's common rules of migration, voted against.

For years, EU member states have struggled for asylum reform. European Union interior ministers have reached an agreement in Luxembourg, though they failed to achieve unanimousness.

Plans require markedly more restrictive treatment of migrants without any prospects of attitude. The agreement allows asylum procedures on Europe's external borders for the first time so that people with little opportunity to stay in the EU do not even enter the EU. For this, asylum centres will be established near borders. From there, immigrants will be deported directly.

Accept or Pay

Polish Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski, for example, announced that Poland would not pay compensation to an EU asylum seekers' fund. This compensation, 20,000 euros for asylum seekers, is binding under new rules of solidarity, unless a country welcomes enough asylum seekers according to its population.

Migration expert Helena Hahn, from the European Policy Centre, doubts the new system will function well: “We saw to the end that it faced resistance from several member states, including Poland. They say these costs are too high. That's why we can expect more opposition”.

Countries with an accession rate below 20 per cent

Despite massive opposition to “mandatory solidarity” with highly charged entry countries such as Greece, Italy, Cyprus and Malta, German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser believes the decision made in Luxembourg is a “historical” decision that was not easy for anyone.

Who is affected by border procedures?

Procedures on external borders will initially be applied only to migrants from countries, whose level of recognition is below 20% on average in the EU; whose demand is openly unmanaged, because they come from a relatively safe country. This has to do, for example, for people from Turkey, India, Tunisia, Serbia or Albania. Procedures must last a maximum of twelve weeks.

Most refugees -- for example, from Syria, Afghanistan or Sudan -- are expected to continue to have the right to a normal procedure. Last year, some 966,000 asylum applications were deposited in the EU, of which more than one in four in 252,000 were made in Germany.

Back to Third Places

Those whose asylum demand has been rejected during the border procedure, under new regulations, can soon return to their country of origin or to other third countries.

In the future, Detecting states -- Greece and Italy -- can decide for themselves whether a third country is suitable for repatriation. There will be no more a list throughout the EU. Italy, Greece and Austria insist that migrants refused to be deported to so-called third countries safely. These countries include Tunisia or Albania.

Germany wanted to prevent this from happening if outcasts were not close to these third countries, for example, through their families. But according to the European Commission and the Swedish Presidency of the Council, it is sufficient that migrants have simply crossed transit through a country.

What is the position of the German government?

The German government wants to make changes to the latest European asylum agreement. Government spokesman Stephen Hebestreit made it clear in Berlin that he wanted to benefit from future negotiations with the European Commission and the European Parliament.

Hebestreet said in Berlin that the deal was a compromise in which bitter pills should be swallowed. For the German government, the desired changes are aimed at above all the best protection of families with minor children. Hebestre referred to the protocol note the German government drafted on the subject in co-operation with Luxembourg, Portugal and Ireland.

How has compromise been expected?

ProAsy's organisation sees compromise as a <x0 frontal attack on asylum rights”. The European Department of Human Rights Director Copp has named it in Editorionsnetzwerk Deutschland a historical “ ” of Germany's ruling tricolor coalition. Amnesty International expressed himself in the same direction.

Hungary and Poland want to return this topic to the European summit agenda on 29 June and 30 June in Brussels. In addition, EU countries still have to reach an agreement with the European Parliament. This is considered very difficult, as positions vary “kilometers” according to diplomats. The German government is pressing for asylum reform to be completed before European elections in June 2024. / DW