The EU parliament on Wednesday adopted a contentious reform of Europe's asylum policies that will harden border procedures and force all the bloc's 27 nations to share responsibility.
The parliament's main political groups overcame opposition from far-right and far-left parties to pass the EU Asylum and Migration Pact – a sweeping reform nearly a decade in the making.
It will come into force in 2026, after the European Commission sets out in coming months how it would be implemented.
New border centres will hold irregular migrants while their asylum requests are vetted, and speed up deportations of those deemed inadmissible.
It will also require EU countries to take in thousands of asylum-seekers from "frontline" states such as Italy and Greece. Alternatively, they could provide money or other resources to the under-pressure nations.
A controversial measure is the sending of asylum-seekers to countries outside the EU that are deemed "safe", if the migrant has sufficient ties to that country.
Parliament reactions
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called the new rules a "historic, indispensable step" for the European Union.
Migration is a European challenge that requires European solutions.
— European Commission (@EU_Commission) April 10, 2024
Following today's votes by @Europarl_EN, our Union can harness the strong and effective legal framework provided by the Pact on Migration and Asylum.
In 2020 we promised a fresh start. We are delivering it ↓
The migration minister for Greece, one of the countries worst affected by arrivals of growing numbers of undocumented migrants, echoed this comment.
"This is a major breakthrough and a very important step towards a common, and therefore more effective, management of the migration challenges of our time," Migration Minister Dimitris Kairidis wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Ursula von der Leyen, head of the European Commission, said the adoption of this reform was a "huge achievement for Europe". "Today is indeed a historic day," she added.
EU home affairs commissioner Ylva Johansson said the bloc "will be able to better protect our external borders, the vulnerable and refugees, swiftly return those not eligible to stay" and introduce "mandatory solidarity" between member states.
UNHCR backs reform
Outside the Brussels parliament building, dozens of demonstrators protested against the vote, echoing criticism from more than 160 migrant charities and non-governmental organisations who view it as a betrayal of European Union values.
In a sign of the fierce opposition, the start of voting was interrupted by protesters in the public gallery yelling "This pact kills - vote no!" until the chamber was brought to order.
But the UNHCR refugee agency's chief has endorsed the reform, drawn up by the European Commission since massive inflows jolted the bloc in 2015.
Opposition to reforms
For the far-left, the reforms, which include building border centres to hold asylum-seekers and sending some to outside "safe" countries, were incompatible with Europe's commitment to upholding human rights.
It was "a pact with the devil," said Damien Careme, a lawmaker from the Greens group.
🚨EU Migration Pact passed ❌
— Equinox: Racial Justice Initiative (@Equinoxrji) April 10, 2024
The Pact will bring a deadly new era of digital surveillance of migrants & more tech will be used to criminalise people entering Europe.
👉🏾Read our #ProtectNotSurveil statement 'A dangerous regime of migrant surveillance'https://t.co/Ivx7G8iB1k pic.twitter.com/EPYaF7NgnP
Far-right lawmakers complained the overhaul did not go far enough to block access to irregular migrants, whom they accuse of spreading insecurity and threatening to "submerge" European identity.
"We won't allow ourselves to be replaced or submerged," Jordan Bardella, a lawmaker heading France's far-right National Rally party whose figurehead is Marine Le Pen, said in the pre-vote debate.
'Problematic elements'
The mainstream centrist right and left in parliament had called for the pact to be passed as an improvement over the current situation.
Last year 380,000 people entered the EU illegally, the highest number since 2016.
They warned that failure to pass the reforms would boost the far-right, predicted to become a bigger force in the European Parliament following June elections.
📌The @EPPGroup wants to prevent irregular #EUMigration and unauthorised movements between EU countries and combat migrant smuggling.
— EPP Group (@EPPGroup) April 10, 2024
The Pact on Asylum and Migration marks significant progress towards overcoming these challenges.
Watch the full video⬇ #EPlenary pic.twitter.com/kCv0ss6fQK
Sophie In 'T Veld, a key figure pushing the package through, acknowledged "problematic elements, risks and weaknesses", but said that overall it marked a step forward.
Deals with neighbours
The pact has wended through years of thorny talks and compromises ever since the bloc was confronted with large numbers of irregular migrants who arrived in 2015, many from war-torn Syria.
Under current EU rules, the arrival country bears responsibility for hosting and vetting asylum-seekers, and returning those deemed inadmissable. That has put southern states under pressure and fuelled far-right sentiment.
A political breakthrough came in December when a weighted majority of EU countries backed the reforms, overcoming opposition from Hungary and Poland.
In parallel with the reform, the EU has been multiplying the same sort of deal it struck with Turkey in 2016 to stem migratory flows.
It has reached accords with Tunisia and, most recently Egypt, that are portrayed as broader cooperation arrangements. Many lawmakers have, however, criticised the deals.
(With newswires)
