After eight years of debates and negotiations, the European Parliament approved the reform of EU migration law. A key element of the pact is the establishment of the principle of solidarity.
The need to reform EU migration law began to be discussed in 2016, after the months-long migration crisis resulting from the inflow of a large number of refugees from Syria and Iraq, which were then ravaged by civil wars.
Citizens of other Asian and African countries, who were escaping poverty, unemployment and an uncertain future in their home countries, also marched and sailed towards Europe together with Syrians and Iraqis. However, they had little chance of obtaining asylum in the European Union.
Most migrants and refugees went to the so-called EU border countries, especially Greece, Italy and Spain. Those who were not detained by the border services went mainly to Germany, the Netherlands, France and Sweden.
Disputes over migration quotas
The countries that accepted the most migrants and refugees appealed to the rest of the EU to accept some of the newcomers from Asia and Africa, but the migration quota system established by the European Commission turned out to be ineffective, and many member states, especially from Central and Eastern Europe, decided that it was not are responsible for the migration crisis and refused to accept anyone at all.
It was then that the decision was made to move away from ad hoc solutions in favor of a comprehensive reform of the EU’s migration and asylum policy. However, there were long disputes about the shape of the new migration pact, and despite the agreement of the member states, the consent of the European Parliament was hanging in the balance until the last moment.
Finally, today (April 10), the EP approved the migration pact. Its main element will be the solidarity mechanism, which will assume the distribution of an appropriate number of people who will obtain the right to stay in the EU among all member states.
However, there will be no mandatory admission of refugees, because instead it will be possible to pay a special fee to the solidarity fund, which will amount to PLN 20,000. euro from each person not admitted.
Faster processing of applications and more deportations
In addition to this mechanism, the pact also includes a number of solutions to speed up the processing of asylum applications, improve their verification and more efficiently return people who will not have the right to stay in the EU.
It will also be possible to take fingerprints from people who are stopped illegally crossing the EU’s external border.
The provisions of the migration pact will come into force in 2026. They still need to be officially approved by the member states, but they have already given their preliminary consent, so it is only a formality.
One of the countries that most strongly supported the adoption of the pact was Germany, which receives the largest number of migrants in the EU. “The reform of the Common European Asylum System shows the solidarity of European countries. It limits illegal immigration and relieves the burden on countries particularly affected by it,” wrote the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on social media.
Warsaw is against the pact
The Polish government was against the migration pact, but during the work on the document the principle of unanimity was abandoned, so the new EU law could not be vetoed.
However, the current authorities in Warsaw pointed to another doubt – the migration pact was negotiated by the previous government and was adopted shortly after the Polish elections. The new government therefore had no influence on the shape of the pact at all.
Representatives of the Polish authorities – e.g. the chairman of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, Grzegorz Schetyna – pointed out that Warsaw decided not to block the pact because it was trying to negotiate some concessions for Poland.
The point is that our country has accepted the largest number of refugees from Ukraine in the EU. Warsaw wants these refugees to be included in Poland’s migration quota. This would mean that the Polish state could basically not accept anyone from outside Ukraine and at the same time would not be obliged to pay the solidarity fee.
What does the Migration Pact provide?
The Migration Pact is a number of different solutions reforming the European Union’s migration policy. Here are the most important assumptions of the reform:
- Solidarity mechanism – Member States will not have to show solidarity with each other on migration issues. However, they will not be forced to accept migrants on their territory. Instead, they will be able to contribute financially or provide operational and technical support.
- Better border control – all people arriving at EU borders who do not meet the entry criteria will have to be subject to a control procedure. It will include identification, collection of biometric data, as well as health and safety checks. The inspection will have to be carried out within 7 days.
- Speeding up the asylum procedure – the pact introduces a new and uniform form of granting international protection throughout the EU. The processing of applications is to be shorter. Among other things, the following will be shortened: deadlines for unfounded and inadmissible applications.
- Eurodoc database – all data on people arriving illegally in the EU will be collected in the Eurodoc database. There will be, among others: fingerprints or facial photos of people aged six and over.
- Refugee status – uniform rules on the recognition of refugee status and the rights of persons eligible for protection will apply throughout the EU. The assessment of the situation in the country of origin will be assessed on the basis of data from the European Union Agency for Asylum. While the application is being processed, migrants will have to stay in the territory of the country considering the application.
- Refugee reception standards – Member States will be obliged to ensure an appropriate standard, including: in terms of housing, education, health care and work for asylum seekers. Such people will be able to start working no later than 6 months after submitting their asylum application.
- Admission of verified refugees – Member States will also accept on their territory persons from third countries who have been officially recognized as refugees by the UN. Such people will be transferred to Europe in a legal, safe and orderly manner.
