EU countries, lawmakers agree major reform of asylum system

EU member states and the European Parliament on Wednesday agreed to a major overhaul of the bloc's laws on handling asylum-seekers and migrants, European Commission Vice President Margaritis Schinas said, describing the deal as a "breakthrough."

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola hailed the deal as a "landmark agreement" on the messaging platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

The deal has also been praised by UN refugee chief Filippo Grandi, who called it a "very positive step" in comments on X.

What is the agreement about?

The aim of the agreement is to reduce the amount of irregular migration to the European Union.

The reform includes provisions for faster vetting of irregular arrivals, the creation of border detention centers and quicker deportation for asylum-seekers whose requests have been rejected.

The overhaul also contains a solidarity mechanism to reduce the pressure for southern countries that are seeing large numbers of asylum-seekers arriving at their gates. 

Under the mechanism, some asylum-seekers will be relocated to other EU states, while countries that refuse to take them in will make a financial or material contribution to those that do.

Up to the end of November this year, the EU border agency Frontex had registered more than 355,000 irregular border crossings into the bloc, an increase of 17%. 

How did EU countries react?

Germany has also welcomed the agreement, with German Chancellor Olaf Sholz saying it "will relieve the burden on countries that are particularly affected — including Germany."

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said it was "urgently needed and long overdue."

However, she admitted that not all of Germany's concerns had been addressed in the agreement, saying that Berlin had wanted a "blanket exemption of children and families from border procedures." 

Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, whose country has seen large numbers of migrants arriving over the Mediterranean by boat over the past years, voiced relief at the deal.

"The approval of the pact is a great success for Europe and for Italy ... [which] has always played a leading role in order to affirm a balanced solution so that EU border countries, which are particularly exposed to migratory pressure, no longer feel alone," he said in a statement.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis of Greece announced his "satisfaction" with the agreement, calling it "an important response" to Athens' calls for change. 

Hungary, however, has strongly rejected the deal.

"We reject this migration pact in the strongest possible terms [...] We will not let anyone in against our will, no one from Brussels or anywhere else can tell us who we can let in, and we refuse in the strongest possible terms to be punished for this [stance]," said Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto.

What do critics say?

While the agreement has been described as "historic" by several conservative lawmakers, left-leaning politicians have been anything but positive about the reform.

"The negotiators agreed to undermine the right to seek asylum," said German EU lawmaker Damian Boeselager, a member of the European Greens.

"This new system will make sure we have prison camps at our borders and should have never been accepted," he added.

Several aid agencies that work with migrants, such as Amnesty International, Oxfam, Caritas and Save the Children, have also slammed the reform, saying it will create a "cruel system" that is also unworkable. 

"Not one single life will be saved by today's decision. This agreement is a historic failure and a bow to the right-wing parties of Europe," said the Sea-Watch rescue charity in a statement it said was backed by more than a dozen NGOs.

The EU migration reform agreement comes after French parliament approved a divisive immigration bill that also contains stricter rules enabling the faster deportation of certain foreigners and that has drawn considerable criticism from leftist lawmakers and migration advocacy groups.

tj/fb (dpa, AFP, Reuters)