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The European Commission is abandoning the idea of mandatory refugee quotas as it is reviving attempts to change European asylum and migration rules after more than four years of stalemate, writes Monitor.
Long-awaited proposals related to migration and delayed by the pandemic will allow EU member states to choose between accepting refugees or taking responsibility for returning denied asylum to their countries of origin.
As an incentive to accept refugees or asylum seekers rescued in the Mediterranean, countries will be offered € 10,000 per adult, financed from the EU budget. But no country will be obliged to offer asylum to anyone, Reuters reported.
The EC proposal, presented in Brussels, provides relief to member states such as Greece and Italy, especially with strong support for sending migrants without the right of residence to their countries.
Countries like Hungary and Poland should be obliged to accept migrants only in absolutely exceptional cases. Furthermore, the EU Commission calls on all EU countries to contribute to the common migration policy in times of crisis.
The European Commission concept offers three scenarios:
In normal times, EU countries can help each other on a voluntary basis.
If a country is under pressure, it can activate the so-called mandatory solidarity mechanism. Then EU countries will have to accept immigrants or help in some other way, for example through deportation.
If a crisis occurs like in 2015, the crisis mechanism goes into effect. The choice of assistance options is then reduced: either migrants are accepted or several rejected asylum seekers are deported. This deportation must take place within eight months. If that fails, the country must take them with it.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called on EU member states to use the concept as the basis for a new attempt at an agreement. “It is time to meet the challenge of shaping migration together, with the right balance of solidarity and responsibility,” she said. It is also about restoring the trust of citizens.
Two out of three immigrants who come to the EU cannot stay, said EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ilva Johansson.
He said that last year 2.4 million immigrants were granted the right to reside in the EU and around a million foreigners left the Community. In 2019, 140,000 illegally arrived migrants were identified. By comparison, in 2015 the number of people who entered the EU illegally was 1.8 million, mainly refugees.
Johansson added that while many migrants are not allowed to stay in the EU, they remain for years and the commission proposes ways to change that. According to the EC, evaluations of asylum seekers must be completed within 12 weeks.
The EC intends to report on how each foreign country fulfills its obligation to readmit its citizens who have entered or remained in the EU illegally. A spokesperson for the commission said later today that EC President Ursula von der Layen will hold talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in which all issues of mutual interest will be discussed.
We do not under any circumstances envisage the introduction of mandatory quotas for migrant resettlement, explained Johansson. He noted that Cyprus and Malta are currently experiencing the greatest migratory pressure and the greatest need for assistance. According to her, there are many people there for whom a return decision has been issued.
The Commission today proposed changes to the EU’s ability to participate in the common migration policy. According to the Vice President of the EC, Margaritis Schinas, the changes take into account the opinions of each EU country. The Dublin agreement on migration is not suitable for current circumstances, he added.
Von der Layen pointed out that the current European migration management system is not working and a fresh start is needed. We need to stop making decisions as appropriate, the EC provides a good basis for a different approach, he added.
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