The European Commission has proposed a new pact on asylum and migration intended for Member States to follow and provide a more predictable and stable environment for people seeking asylum or trying to immigrate to the EU, according to a press release published by the Commission.
According to the press release, there are four pillars that uphold the proposed pact:
- Stronger and faster procedures. This will allow people to build trust in a fair and unified system based on their procedures. These include utilizing an integrated border procedure, which will identify all people illegally crossing external borders; a health check, fingerprinting, and registration in the Eurodac database; stronger monitoring and operational support from EU agencies.
- Fair sharing of responsibility and solidarity. This will bind Member States to act in solidarity with each other, instead of every Member Sate implementing their own rules out-of-step with each other when it comes to helping the EU achieve its humanitarian organizations.
- Tailor-made and mutually beneficial partnerships with third countries. This will help the EU and third countries address mutual issues such as human trafficking and migrant smuggling and help them develop readmission agreements with each other.
- A common EU system for returns. This will make EU rules and procedures more credible by using a more effective legal framework and the stronger role of the European Border and Coast Guadd Agency FRONTEX. It will also ensure the common governance for migration, better protection of external borders, and talent partnerships with third countries.
Migration and humanitarian obligations are usually a problem for all countries, and apart from establishing a unified approach, they are the main focus of the pact proposed by the Commission.
Migration has always been and always will be part of our societies. What we are proposing today will build a long-term migration policy that can translate European values into practical management. This set of proposals will mean clear, fair and faster border procedures, so that people do not have to wait in limbo. It means enhanced cooperation with third countries for fast returns, more legal pathways and strong actions to fight human smugglers. Fundamentally it protects the right to seek asylum,” said Ylva Johansson, Commissioner for Home Affairs.
However, the issue of Member States taking a completely un-unified approach to all things, but especially migration and asylum has driven the Commission to draft a proposal to bind them to act as a whole instead of as individual countries.
“Moria is a stark reminder that the clock has run out on how long we can live in a house half-built. The time has come to rally around a common, European migration policy. The Pact provides the missing pieces of the puzzle for a comprehensive approach to migration. No one Member State experiences migration in the same way and the different and unique challenges faced by all deserve to be recognised, acknowledged and addressed,” said Margaritis Schinas, Vice President for Promoting our European Way of Life.
Although the Commission has proposed that Member States adopt their proposal, they are not legally required to; it is still unclear whether or not all Member States will be following the Commission’s proposal for migration and asylum.
