Belgium among the voluntary states
Belgium is one of a dozen EU countries which expressed their readiness, at a ministerial meeting in Luxembourg on Friday, to participate in a joint effort of member states willing to welcome people rescued in the Mediterranean, provided that the mechanism for distributing these asylum seekers be flexible and take into account the reception situation in the country, we informed a good source.
While the reform of the EU’s migration policy has been blocked for years, the French presidency of the Council of the EU, which comes to an end at the end of June, gathered on Friday progress on a first tranche of the package of proposals for the Asylum and Migration Pact, presented by the Commission in September 2020. In a constructive context marked by the united response of the 27 to the arrival of war refugees from Ukraine (unprecedented status of temporary protection), it initiated a mechanism for distributing refugees, including those rescued in the Mediterranean, between Voluntary Member States. The objective is to reach 10,000 “relocations” in the first year, according to several European sources. Countries that persist in refusing this type of “human solidarity” would be forced to pay a direct financial contribution to the countries most under pressure. (such as Italy, Spain, Greece or Malta), or a staff contribution for border management.
This “solidarity” section is linked to a “responsibility” section, through two other proposals of the Pact: the enlargement of Eurodac, the biometric database of asylum seekers, and the establishment of a new filter compulsory prior to the entry of an asylum seeker into the EU. These two regulations also obtained the support of a “large majority”, according to the French presidency.
For European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson, the “vast majority” of member states that supported these three proposals constitutes “major progress”. In the coming days, the French Presidency and the Commission will organize a meeting of a “solidarity platform” to translate this “historic agreement” into concrete terms, according to French Minister Gérald Darmanin.
However, we are still “very far from achieving” the Pact, putting a diplomat into perspective, while welcoming the French method. What is on the table is still “quite vague”, but concrete figures and proposals are expected in the coming days. At least the Pact, which was said to be “dead and buried”, now seems to be the subject of a “willingness to move forward”. »
Belgium is one of the dozen Member States willing to participate in the project for a temporary distribution mechanism, which would cover one year but would be renewable. But as it is, like its neighbours, a country caught up in “secondary” migration (arrival of asylum seekers whose application has already been lodged in another EU country or should be examined by a another EU country), and as its reception network remains under pressure, it demands that the mechanism be flexible and take account of the reception situation at national level. Moreover, it is difficult for her to move forward on relocation without considering the entirety of the Pact, and to this expectation, “we are not there yet” concerning screening and Eurodac, “very strong” conditions on the Belgian side. The Netherlands has already announced that it will not take asylum seekers, indicating that its reception system is under pressure. Austria has expressed its hostility, worrying about “a bad signal sent to the smugglers”. But France, Germany and Italy have an “advanced major”. The ministers finally agreed on the reform of the Schengen Borders Code to “better protect the EU’s external borders and preserve the integrity of our area of free movement”, according to Mr. Darmanin.