Summary of the day
The European parliament approved the bloc’s new migration and asylum pact.
The pact was passed despite earlier uncertainties over whether all parts of it would receive sufficient backing.
The votes came after years of deadlock, debates and negotiations over the EU’s migration and asylum policies.
The pact’s approval was met with a mix response. It was backed by the parliament’s biggest parties, but elicited strong criticism from some political groups and NGOs.
Roberta Metsola, the European parliament president, said “we kept out word,” calling the pact a “balance between solidarity and responsibility.”
The European home affairs commissioner, Ylva Johansson, told the Guardian: “I feel proud ... considering when I took office four and a half years ago, few thought we would make it.”
MEP Tomas Tobé, from the centre-right European people’s party, said that “delivering on the new Migration Pact will allow us to regain control over our external borders and reduce the migration pressure on the EU,” he said.
Iratxe García, president of the Socialists and Democrats group, said that “thanks to the unity of the S&D Group, we finally put a real European solution in place. This moves us away from ad-hoc crises responses to a permanent and sustainable procedure that governments can rely on.”
Valérie Hayer, the president of the centrist Renew Europe, said “this marks an end to the unbearable failure by EU countries to find common ground on how to deal best with migration.”
The Greens said that “with the migration pact, the lack of solidarity towards asylum seekers & between member states will only get worse.”
The Left group in the European parliament said “today is a dark day for human rights, but the fight for a humane migration policy does not end here.”
The French National Rally’s Jordan Bardella, a critic of the migration pact, has called it “terrible” and called for a “defeat” for the project in the upcoming European parliament election.
Eve Geddie, Amnesty International’s head of the European institutions office, said “EU institutions are now shamefully co-signing an agreement that they know will lead to greater human suffering.”
Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, said after the votes that the migration and asylum pact will be making a “real difference” for Europeans.
She said it would bring more secure borders, knowing who crosses the borders, while ensuring respect for fundamental rights.
The pact strikes a balance, she said.
The pact is about how best to pull our weight together, she said, noting that the EU will continue fulfilling international obligations, but must be the ones deciding who comes into the bloc – not smugglers.
The EU will continue working with global partners to address root causes of migration, von der Leyen said, adding that this work is delivering.
We delivered a European solution, but our work is not done yet, the Commission president said.
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