The French interior minister reports on a system for the voluntary redistribution of refugees on which “a large majority” of EU countries have agreed.
After years of struggle, the EU states have apparently made a breakthrough in migration policy. As the French interior minister and current EU Council President Gérald Darmanin announced on Twitter on Friday, a “historic agreement” was reached at a meeting in Luxembourg, among other things on a system for the voluntary redistribution of refugees. Part of the “significant progress” is also stronger external border protection.
According to Darmanin, a “large majority” of states have agreed on the two legal acts on external border protection and on the solidarity mechanism for redistribution. “In the next few days, the French Presidency and the Commission will organize a meeting of the ‘Solidarity Platform’ to give concrete form to this historic agreement.”
Karner insists on “robust external border protection”
Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) had expressed skepticism about the redistribution in the run-up to the meeting. He sees this as “rejecting”. He was against “sending the wrong signal to the smugglers, Europe is open, Europe is accommodating”. On the other hand, he reiterated his call for “robust, functioning external border protection.”
According to the German Press Agency (dpa), German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said that Berlin would participate in a solidarity mechanism to support Mediterranean countries in dealing with asylum seekers. Berlin and Paris would move forward together, she said when asked how many refugees Germany would take in. She estimated that ten to twelve countries could participate. It was unclear whether they would take in refugees or provide assistance in some other way.
At the meeting, Karner welcomed a new proposal from the French EU Council Presidency on the Schengen Borders Code. Karner emphasized on Friday before a meeting with his EU counterparts in Luxembourg that it must also be possible in the future to carry out internal border controls if necessary. Freedom to travel is important, but you also have to pay attention to security. According to Karner, how these internal border controls should look like is the topic of today’s meeting.
Exceptions to border controls caused resentment
In the Schengen area, which includes 26 European countries, there are actually no stationary identity checks at national borders. In recent years, however, several states have used an exception and reintroduced controls. In the case of Austria, this has caused dissatisfaction, especially in the southern neighboring country Slovenia, which sees no objective justification for the controls.
The ECJ recently found that Austria has not been able to prove the serious threat to its public order required for the controls since 2017. A final decision lies with the responsible court in Austria. This appealed to the Luxembourg supreme judge after a Union citizen had challenged an administrative penalty notice issued on the border with Slovenia.
(APA)