info@boell.de. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen announced that the EU's long-awaited new pact on migration and asylum will be unveiled next Wednesday. It will have to be approved by the European Parliament and Council of the European Union. The tragic loss of a child’s life hardly made an impression on the international media or public discourse in Greece. But it relies on too many weak links. The European Commission’s newly released Pact on Migration and Asylum aims to address the imbalances in member states’ burdens related to migrant arrivals and streamline the asylum process. While the Commission says partnerships should be “comprehensive, balanced and tailor-made”, its proposals emphasise increasing pressure on third countries so that they help with returns of migrants. Winner of the Prospect 2015 Think Tank of the Year Award - UK International Affairs. The political incentive for migration-sceptic governments will be to put money and effort into returns. The Commission wants to increase co-operation by placing migration management at the heart of the EU’s relations with its partners, particularly in Africa. An outbreak of coronavirus would be devastating. In mid-September 2020, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen spoke out strongly in favour of a human and humane approach to the common EU Asylum Policy. The three pillars of the EU Migration Pact are to: These include suggestions for dealing with asylum seekers once they arrive at the EU’s borders; plans to work with countries of origin and transit to stop people from coming in the first place; and arrangements for returning those who fail to obtain asylum. Insights from Serbia - a buffer zone for the EU’s illegal pushback policy? Aegean chronicles: A reporter’s confrontation with Europe’s failures and moral imperative, No Sound Basis for Solidarity but an Opportunity to Rethink Asylum, Dublin Forever - Nothing New for the South, Nothing New in the North: The EU’s New Pact will not change much for Morocco, Poland wants no refugees – NGO’s critical look at the New Pact on Migration and Asylum, Migration in Senegal: Societal visions instead of criminalisation and the rhetoric of deterrence. The EU-UK trade and co-operation agreement: A platform on which to build? The EU’s partners fear being stuck with large numbers of foreign nationals that transited through their territory. The Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) is an intergovernmentally negotiated agreement, prepared under the auspices of the United Nations, that describes itself as covering "all dimensions of international migration in a holistic and comprehensive manner".. Many member-states are also unlikely to agree to visa liberalisation with third countries, not least because overstaying visas is a common way for migrants to enter the EU. Copyright is held by the Centre for European Reform. While the EU tried to reform its internal solidarity system it set up arrangements with Turkey, Libya and other countries of origin and transit that reduced flows. It revealed a European Union that is jammed by Member States’ disagreements and incapacity to be united. The Pact, unveiled on Wednesday, is the Commission’s flagship initiative to create a comprehensive plan for managing migration. In the last few months, more than 500 migrants have lost their lives trying to leave West Africa for the Canary Islands and thus Europe, in a terrible repeat of the situation of 2005/2006. To be realistic, any reform should include a menu of options allowing EU countries to save face. Her lofty promises did not, however, survive very long. Ηe was with his father and other asylum seekers onboard a dinghy that was shipwrecked. Closed Ports, Dubious Partners: The EU’s Policy of Outsourcing Responsibility in the Mediterranean, 2 June 2020, "Get Lost!" The safety of people who seek international protection or a better life, the concerns of countries at the EU’s external borders, which worry that migratory pressures will exceed their capacities and which need solidarity from others. As to the Commission’s plans to increase opportunities for legal migration to Europe, there is resistance from many member-states. If the EU’s internal solidarity mechanisms remain in deadlock, the Union will have to continue to rely only on co-operation with third countries. Europe needs a strong Africa, but will it work to achieve one? Some officials also suggest that the present arrangement allows Italy to turn a blind eye to people moving northwards when the figures become too high). President Ursula von der Leyen is determined not to make the same mistake. This sobering pact only confirms once again for many Tunisians that the EU migration policy is a one-way affair. The situation at the EU’s borders will not improve unless the member-states act. However, the close cooperation with FRONTEX remains a cause for concern. As long as there is no real burden-sharing, member-states on the EU’s border will be incentivised to either let migrants go north or seal borders, keeping those migrants that make it through in very poor conditions. After years of erratic and uncoordinated actions, the European Commission has revealed the long-awaited New Pact on Migration and Asylum to “propose a fresh start” on this highly politicised policy priority. There are more challenges for the EU just around the corner: Europe’s neighbourhood faces destabilisation as a result of the economic hit from the COVID-19 pandemic, which will probably lead to an increase in migration flows to the EU. For Brussels, this plan is about a long term solution, so when the next wave hits, Europe is prepared. In developing the broader overhaul of asylum policy, the so-called Migration Pact, the Commission has similarly stressed a voluntary approach to solidarity, and the German presidency of the Council of the EU has been hoping to finally reach a unanimous political deal on at least some parts of the proposal, as an agreement has eluded the bloc since the 2015 migration … A number of operational initiatives have been ongoing for some time, as set out in this document (pages 10 and 11, pdf).. Repeated attempts to fix the system over the past five years have failed because they mainly relied on EU countries being forced to take asylum seekers from the overwhelmed member-states. But the idea could backfire. The EU Migration Policy: More Solidarity Is Needed! The EU's New Migration Pact is a Step in the Right Direction. INTRODUCTION. It has already taken steps to make visa policy conditional on co-operation on returns, and wants to make use of leverage from “all relevant EU policies and tools” that are of interest to partners, like development aid and trade. At first sight, it stands more chance of surviving than previous attempts, as the Commission has made sure to include something for everybody. The new package of the European Union Commission on Migration and Asylum has not been as welcomed and applauded as the Commission might have excepted. Even the EU’s comparatively reliable migration partners, like Turkey or Morocco, are becoming more assertive and less willing to help. Making migration deals with countries of origin and transit will be tricky. The fate of the Migration Pact will be in the hands of EU member countries and their parliaments. The plan for managing arrivals at the border is two-pronged: there will be separate asylum procedures, one for those with low chances of being accepted or who may be a security risk; and another one for vulnerable claimants (like children) or asylum seekers likely to be granted refugee status (because they come from a war-torn country, for example). The risk with broad church plans, of course, is that they may end up pleasing no one. After years of impasse, the European Commission unveiled its plans for overhauling the EU’s migration and asylum system on September 23rd. 10117 Berlin The European Commission has today outlined a new pact on migration and asylum. 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