Insight
Europe’s migration problems are back by Luigi Scazzieri, 24 November 2022 The migration spat between France and Italy is a reminder that EU migration politics continue to be toxic, and that Europe’s common migration and asylum system remains incomplete. Earlier this month, migration returned as a top item on the EU’s agenda. The number of migrants arriving in Italy has risen substantially in recent years (see Chart 1) and the new Italian government led by Giorgia Meloni, which had made the fight against irregular migration one of its hallmark policies, has unsurprisingly taken a confrontational line. In June, a group of countries struck an ad-hoc agreement to take in around 10,000 migrants disembarking in Italy and other south European countries. But the mechanism has been very slow to get off the ground, much to Italy’s annoyance. Rome is particularly irked by the operations of non-governmental organisations’ (NGO) rescue vessels in the Mediterranean, which the government argues are working unsupervised and making life easier for migrant smuggling networks, particularly in Libya and Tunisia. It has sought to block them from disembarking rescued migrants in Italian ports, arguing that the country whose flag the vessels fly should be responsible. Italy has also loudly demanded solidarity from its European partners in taking in migrants. A serious row with France broke out in early November after Italy refused to disembark rescued migrants from the ship Ocean Viking, operated by a French NGO under a Norwegian flag. After almost three weeks at sea, and repeated calls for permission to disembark in Italy, Spain and France, the vessel eventually made its way to the French port of Toulon, as conditions on board deteriorated. French officials were furious with their Italian counterparts, with interior minister Gérald Darmanin warning of “extremely severe consequences for bilateral relations and European relations”. France said it would suspend its planned relocation of 3,500 migrants who had arrived in Italy (as part of the June deal), and threatened further retaliation. Italian officials played down the dispute, but there is little sign that Rome plans to change its approach. The Franco-Italian spat on migration is hardly the first time Italy and France have clashed on the issue. There were substantial tensions in 2018-19 when the Five Star League coalition was in government. The latest row is the direct result of Giorgia Meloni’s new policy on migration, and French President Emmanuel Macron’s unwillingness to appear weak domestically by giving in to her demands. At the same time, it is a reminder that Europe’s common migration and asylum system remains incomplete, and that CER INSIGHT: Europe’s migration problems are back 24 NOVEMBER 2022
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