Brussels wants to use visa policy to put pressure on countries of origin. In Stockholm, the EU interior ministers are discussing further options for curbing illegal migration.
How should rejected asylum seekers be returned to their home countries more quickly and efficiently? This is the question at today’s meeting of EU interior ministers near Stockholm. The Swedish Council Presidency has set itself the goal of making significant progress on the controversial issue of illegal migration in the coming months – there is talk of “reasonable groundwork” on which to build before the European elections in spring 2024. But the list of problems is long: it ranges from restrictive external border protection to the question of a fair distribution key for those in need of protection.
There is no question that the EU must act: last year alone, the member states recorded a total of 924,000 asylum applications, an increase of 46 percent compared to 2021 and a high since the great refugee crisis of 2015/16.
However, only a fifth of those people who receive a negative decision actually return to their home countries. Morocco and Algeria, but also Somalia, Eritrea and Ethiopia are cited as negative examples of countries that do not take back citizens who have been rejected by the EU. The EU now wants to increase the pressure on these countries. One possible lever is the reduction of financial resources, another is the suspension of certain simplifications in visa policy – for example with processing deadlines for applications or visa fees.
Withdrawal of trading privileges
Another proposal to force returns comes from the Netherlands: The Hague wants to threaten countries of origin with the withdrawal of trade privileges. If a developing country wants to export duty-free and quota-free to the EU, it must take back its citizens, according to an informal paper circulated among EU countries and available to the “press”.
In addition, The Hague demands that the abuse of visa-free entry into the Union, which is made possible for numerous third countries, be sanctioned more severely: “We should ensure that the EU has a mechanism that takes effect if non-compliance with the visa policy leads to a significant increase in migration flows including those from third countries that require visas.” This is primarily aimed at Serbia, which watched as third-country nationals entered the EU illegally via Belgrade. All EU accession candidates should adapt their national visa rules to those of the EU by June 1st – or explain why they can’t.
Austria – which is one of the most affected member states with 100,000 asylum applications last year – progress in EU migration policy is not progressing fast enough. Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) also wants to discuss with his counterparts in Stockholm the idea of a “refoulement directive” brought up by Vienna, which is intended to stipulate that people with an “extremely low probability of staying” will be turned away at the border without lengthy asylum procedures be able. The Netherlands agrees with this demand. In their paper, they point out that such fast-track procedures are part of the asylum and migration pact that the Commission presented in autumn 2020.
Problem secondary migration
Countries like Austria, the Netherlands and Germany have recently been particularly affected by secondary migration: Greece and Italy allow migrants to move on to other EU countries without registration, although they themselves are responsible for the asylum procedure. The Hague therefore insists on strict compliance with the Dublin rules. A special migration summit will be held in early February.