EU Asylum Pact

von der Leyen: Shows that smugglers do not decide  

 

EU summits and member states express joy that they finally have something towards a decision on the common asylum pact.  

 

This is reported by Politico. The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, says that the settlement is an effective European response to the migration challenges that the Union is facing. 

 

- This means that the Europeans get to decide who comes to the EU and who stays, not the smugglers. This means that those in need of help receive protection, she says.  

 

Italy is one of the countries to which many migrants have arrived across the Mediterranean. Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi hails the agreement as "a great success" and says that countries on the EU's external border "no longer feel alone." The pact deals with how asylum seekers are to be received at the EU's external borders, contains writings about how member states are to help each other. 

 

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EU agrees on historic asylum pact after years of wrangling  

 

The EU countries and the EU Parliament have agreed on a common asylum and migration pact, states negotiator Tomas Tobé (M) in a press release according to TT.  

 

The announcement comes after years of fierce negotiations. The pact is about how asylum seekers are to be received at the EU's external borders and places increased focus on distinguishing between people who have reasons for protection and those who are unlikely to be allowed to stay. It also contains writings about how member states should help each other in crisis situations. 

 

Sveriges Radio's Brussels correspondent Andreas Liljeheden says that the settlement is historic. 

 

- There have been quarrels between the EU countries since the refugee crisis in 2015 and no issue has divided the countries as deeply.  

 

The pact is expected to be formally approved by both the EU Parliament and the EU Council of Ministers in early 2024. 

 

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Tobé: "Toughest in my life - haven't slept in a long time"  

 

EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson says that the asylum pact that the EU reached after years of negotiations is a historic success. 

 

- There will be better protection of our external borders, more people who come who do not have reasons for asylum will receive their process and return decision already at the border, says Johansson, who presented the proposal in September 2020.  

 

MEP and negotiator Tomas Tobé (M) says that the job has been the toughest thing he has done in his life.  

 

- I have been negotiating days and nights and haven't slept for a long time.  

 

He believes that the responsibility for managing migration becomes more solidary with the new asylum pact.

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