On Thursday, the European Parliament gave the go-ahead to a set of legislative proposals to reform European asylum and migration policy. Parliament approved new rules to speed up the return of migrants who entered Europe without permission and oblige member states to accept asylum seekers from other countries in emergency situations. It is now waiting for Member States to begin negotiations on final legislation. However, EU governments have been unable to agree on this politically sensitive issue for months.
With the new rules, the European Parliament wants, among other things, to prevent migrants from entering Europe without permission and for these migrants to be able to travel to other member states. MEPs have backed the use of EU funds for border security, moving one step closer to direct financing of once-hated border walls. A separate amendment explicitly calling for the EU to fund border fences was also voted on, but this provision did not pass. This is despite the support of nearly three-quarters of the European People’s Party, the largest party in the European Parliament.
Mandatory resettlement for asylum seekers
The decision was also taken on Thursday that countries could be obliged to accept asylum seekers from other EU countries in a state of emergency, whether declared by Brussels or not. An emergency is defined as “the massive and sudden influx of third country nationals”. The text authorizes the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, to trigger the crisis mechanism.
The approved text provides for a more rigorous registration system to expedite the return of migrants. Tighter screening should help discourage “secondary movements in the Schengen Area”.
Now Parliament will negotiate with the Council of the European Union. Those talks are expected to start after EU justice and home affairs ministers agree on a common position at their meeting on June 8-9.
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