Breakthrough in negotiations - EU member states and EU Parliament agree on asylum reform
The asylum system in the EU is being fundamentally reformed. After years of discussions, representatives of the EU member states and the European Parliament reached a final agreement on the corresponding legal texts, as announced by the Spanish Council Presidency and the EU Commission on Wednesday morning. Numerous tightening of the existing rules are planned. The aim is to curb irregular migration.
The agreement still has to be confirmed by the plenary of the European Parliament and the EU member states. This is normally a formality.
In future, there are to be uniform border procedures at the EU's external borders. In particular, there are plans to deal much more harshly with people from countries that are considered relatively safe. Until a decision is made on the asylum application, people are to be housed in detention-like conditions in reception camps.
According to the plans, the distribution of those seeking protection among the EU states will be newly regulated with a "solidarity mechanism": If countries do not want to take in refugees, they must provide support, for example in the form of monetary payments. Rejected asylum seekers are to be deported to safe third countries more easily in future.
The reform has been the subject of intensive work since the 2015/2016 refugee crisis. At that time, countries such as Greece were overwhelmed by the huge number of people from countries such as Syria and hundreds of thousands were able to move on to other EU countries unregistered.
This should not have happened because, according to the so-called Dublin Regulation, asylum seekers should be registered where they first entered the European Union.
As a result, the EU Commission first proposed new rules back in 2016. However, the negotiations proved to be very tough until the end. While countries such as Hungary did not find the proposals tough enough, aid organizations and sections of the left and the Greens expressed concerns that human rights were not being sufficiently respected in asylum procedures.
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- The breaking news of a negotiation breakthrough between EU member states and the European Parliament indicates a significant development in the asylum reform, with both parties agreeing on the legal texts.
- The European Parliament and EU member states need to confirm the agreement on the asylum reform, a process that is usually a formality, to implement the proposed changes in the EU's asylum system.
- As part of the EU's asylum reform, there are plans to establish uniform border procedures, detain asylum seekers in reception camps, and introduce a "solidarity mechanism" for distributing refugees among EU states.
- The EU Commission's proposal for new asylum rules, which has been the focus of intense negotiations since the 2015/2016 refugee crisis, aims to address the weaknesses in the asylum system by implementing stricter measures and respecting human rights.
Source: www.stern.de
