EU solidarity as obligation for EU Member States

The European Commission proposed to member states on Wednesday (23 September) to share responsibility for asylum seekers under a “mandatory solidarity” mechanism. With the new migration pact, it hopes to avert a replay of the 2015 migration crisis by giving the countries a choice between taking in migrants or helping to send them back home.

The key point of the EU’s New Pact on Migration and Asylum is that member states would have to either accept asylum seekers, take charge of sending back those who are refused asylum, or offer financial assistance on the ground to front line EU states.

The new proposal, according to the Commission, is meant to “strike a new balance between responsibility and solidarity” and make solidarity with EU front line states – especially Greece, Italy or Malta – compulsory when they are “under pressure” from arrivals.

It is also meant to pacify Eastern European countries, who have persistently refused to accept asylum seekers and in the weeks preceding the announcement reiterated their opposition to mandatory relocation.

The Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, immediately hinted that agreeing on the pact among the EU27 would not be plain sailing.
“My guess is that I will have zero member states saying it’s a perfect proposal,” said Johansson.
“But I do hope that I’ll also have 27 member states saying it’s a balanced approach and let’s work on this… It’s about realising we have a common problem and we have to manage it together.”

In the 400-page proposals encompassing five different EU laws, there is a special emphasis on sending back those who fail to win asylum.

The proposal is aimed at opening up more legal routes for refugees and migrants. It should also facilitate cooperation with third countries hosting people before they reach Europe, as well as closer monitoring of frontline EU countries to ensure they do not violate the law, after multiple reports of pushbacks in Hungary, Croatia, Greece or Malta.

The proposal includes a new compulsory pre-entry screening involving health, identity and security checks as well as a faster asylum border process involving swift returns for rejected asylum seekers, within eight months.

If the repatriation is unsuccessful, the member states will ultimately have to let the refugees stay in their country, so the new system would eventually lead to member states having to take in a number of refugees.

“It’s obvious to everybody that ad hoc solidarity or voluntary solidarity is not enough. That has been proven for many years now,” Commissioner Johansson, said. “It has to be mandatory.”

“Managing migration is not about finding a perfect solution but a solution acceptable to all,” she added.

No mandatory relocation

As EURACTIV reported earlier, there will be no mandatory relocation, which was tried and failed in 2015, instead, member states would have “flexible options” for how to share responsibility.

At the same time, if a country faced major pressure of new arrivals, it could seek to activate a ‘crisis preparedness’ mechanism under which fellow member states would be obliged to take people in or make arrangements to send those rejected back.

Asked by EURACTIV, whether there will be a specific threshold for when a member state can trigger the crisis mechanism, Johansson replied that member states would be able to demand it, and the Commission would then assess the request.

“But bear in mind we’re speaking about a 2015-type crisis situation,” added Vice-President for Promoting our European Way of Life, Margaritis Schinas.

Asked where the Commission exactly sees the role of Turkey in the proposed pact, especially when it comes to the returns, Schinas replied that he is “convinced we can work together”.

The migration crisis in 2015 could only be resolved after Ankara signed a landmark deal with the EU in 2016 to stop the flow in return for incentives that included financial assistance.

The new rules will also authorise tougher controls on the bloc’s external borders with mandatory pre-screening of asylum seekers.

“Currently, the only obligation is for a member state to take the fingerprints of someone who arrives irregularly and simply registers. Under the new pact all arrivals will be subject to a thorough security health and identity check,” Schinas said.

The Commission said all elements should be in place from 2023, but the pact first needs to be discussed and agreed by the EU27.