Praise, but also "painful points" - What top German politicians say about the EU asylum reform
Asylum regulations in the EU are to be significantly tightened. After years of discussions, representatives of the EU member states and the European Parliament reached a final agreement on the corresponding legal texts, as the institutions announced on Wednesday. The aim is to curb irregular migration.
Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz expects the reform to bring relief for Germany. "We are thus limiting irregular migration and relieving the burden on countries that are particularly affected - including Germany," the SPD politician wrote on the online platform X on Wednesday following the breakthrough achieved in the morning in the negotiations on asylum reform. The agreement is a "very important decision".
Ein ganz wichtiger Beschluss: Europa hat sich nach langen Diskussionen endlich auf ein gemeinsames europäisches Asylsystem geeinigt. Damit begrenzen wir die irreguläre Migration und entlasten die Staaten, die besonders stark betroffen sind - auch Deutschland.
— Bundeskanzler Olaf Scholz (@Bundeskanzler) December 20, 2023
Nancy Fraeser praises EU asylum reform
Despite criticism from refugee rights organizations, Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser is also highly satisfied with the agreement. "I fought hard all night for approval in the Council and Parliament and held many discussions", said the SPD politician according to a statement from her ministry. She emphasized: "If we want to preserve the Europe of open borders internally, we must protect the external borders and achieve functioning procedures."
The German government wants an end to the deaths in the Mediterranean and the lawless and chaotic conditions at the external borders of the European Union. Both can only be achieved with practicable European solutions. That is why "strict controls and registration" must be carried out at the EU's external borders in future. Anyone with little prospect of protection in the EU would have to undergo a constitutional asylum procedure at the external borders and, in the event of a rejection, would have to return from there.
Baerbock calls agreement "urgently needed"
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has described the agreement as "urgently necessary and long overdue". In view of the freedom of movement in Europe, reliable rules are needed for everyone in this area, the Green politician announced in Berlin on Wednesday. At the same time, she conceded that Germany had not been able to get its way with all its concerns.
For the first time, the EU states would be obliged to show solidarity and in future there would be a European distribution of migrants, emphasized Baerbock. "Because the inhumane conditions at the EU's external border must not remain the face that Europe shows the world."
Christian Lindner sees the right steps
Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) wrote on X: "With the overdue agreement on EU asylum reform, we are taking the next right steps towards a new realpolitik on migration."
Nouripour deplores "painful points"
Green Party leader Omid Nouripour draws a mixed conclusion on the agreement to reform the European asylum system. Like Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, Nouripour assessed the start of a distribution of migrants in Europe as positive. An improvement had been achieved in the negotiations, he told the German Press Agency in Berlin on Wednesday.
"The results contain painful points in many areas," admitted Nouripour. "For example, we remain critical of the obligation of external border states to carry out procedures at the borders." The Greens would have liked the Council, as the representative of the EU member states, to take more account of the European Parliament's position. This had been made more difficult by the different, largely very restrictive positions of the other EU states, among other things.
"As Greens, we have fought for concrete solutions that bring together humanity and order, that meet our humanitarian demands and obligations as well as the major challenges in our communities and at the external borders and our European political responsibility," said Nouripour. "The current situation at Europe's borders is intolerable. It must not stay like this." This is why the Greens were prepared to enter into difficult negotiations on a reform of the European asylum system.
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- The EU asylum reform discussion involved Germany, as Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed his expectation that the reform would bring relief to countries, including Germany, by limiting irregular migration.
- Following the final agreement on asylum reform in the EU, Nancy Faeser, the German Federal Minister of the Interior, praised the decision, emphasizing the need to protect European external borders to preserve the idea of an open internal Europe.
- The German government, represented by Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, highlighted the urgency of the agreement, noting the need for reliable rules in the EU to address the freedom of movement issue and improve inhumane conditions at Europe's external borders.
- Reacting to the agreement, SPD leader Omid Nouripour admired the consensus on a distribution of migrants in Europe but criticized certain aspects, such as the obligation for border states to carry out procedures, as it infringed on the European Parliament's position.
Source: www.stern.de
