Belgium (Brussels Morning Newspaper), MEPs have hit out at a long-sought agreement that aims to revamp the EU’s asylum and migration legislation.
The EU Parliament and Council negotiators agreed on the final form of five separate EU regulations, establishing how to share the management of asylum and migration flows among member states and what to do in cases of sudden migratory crisis.
The rules also regulate how to deal with people arriving at the EU’s external borders, the processing of asylum claims, and the identification of those arriving.
The assembly’s president Roberta Metsola, an MEP, hailed the deal and said: “Today is a truly historic day, as we have delivered on the Migration and Asylum Pact, possibly the most important legislative package of this mandate.
Europe will now get a robust legislative framework that is the same in all Member States.
“That functions and that protects, an approach that is humane and fair with those seeking protection, that is firm with those who are not eligible, and that is strong with those who exploit the most vulnerable,” said the president.
However, the Greens are not happy with the deal.
On Wednesday, Philippe Lamberts MEP, President of the Greens/EFA Group, said, “Today’s agreements entrench outdated ideas on how to deal with migration and fail to take into account the reality at the EU’s borders both on the ground and in the sea. This will undermine the right to asylum, international law, and human rights.
“Instead of seeking humane and practical solutions to manage migration in an orderly and safe way, EU Member States have been pursuing dangerous policies that are turning the Mediterranean into a graveyard. Unfortunately, the outcome of these negotiations will only solidify this approach.
Left-leaning MEPs also condemned the deal, saying it “marks the death of the individual right to asylum in the EU.”
They say the European Commission and Council’s “rush to strike the agreement reached this morning comes at the expense of the dismantling of human rights in Europe.”
A statement by the Left Group in the parliament reads, “The New Pact is a bow to right-wing extremists and fascists of Europe. The tightening of asylum laws was tailored to the demands of the Melonis and Orbans.
“The Migration Pact will not stop forced migration due to persecution, war, and poverty.”
