Insight
Merkel’s migration deal: Less than the sum of its parts by Sophia Besch, Camino Mortera-Martinez, Luigi Scazzieri 9 July 2018
The June European Council has not solved the EU’s migration problems. The failure to reform the Dublin asylum system means the only choice is for a coalition of the willing to go ahead and distribute asylum-seekers amongst themselves. The number of people arriving in Europe is much lower in 2018 than in previous years. Yet, at the European Council on June 28th-29th, leaders had to grapple with Germany and Italy’s twin political crises over migration and asylum policy. These crises endanger the Schengen border free area. The CSU, the Bavarian sister party to Chancellor Angela Merkel’s CDU, wanted to turn away asylum-seekers already registered in other member-states at the German-Austrian border. Horst Seehofer, the CSU leader and interior minister, faces mounting pressure from the anti-immigration AfD in a forthcoming Bavarian election. He threatened to resign unless Merkel persuaded other member-states to take back asylum-seekers they had already registered. At the same time, Italy demanded other member-states open their ports to the boats arriving from Libya, and that a compulsory mechanism be introduced to distribute asylum-seekers arriving in Italy across member-states. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said he would boycott the summit if other member-states did not address his concerns. The Council’s conclusions acknowledged that migration was a challenge “for Europe as a whole”, and leaders called for ‘controlled centres’ in member-states where migrants’ applications could be processed “on the basis of a shared effort”. The leaders also pledged to tackle movements of asylum-seekers across the EU: the Council conclusions state that “member-states should take all necessary internal legislative and administrative measures to counter such movements and to closely co-operate amongst each other to that end”. The Council also agreed to make up for a shortfall in the EU’s Trust Fund for Africa and to unlock Turkey’s second tranche of funds, partially fulfilling the March 2016 EU-Turkey migration deal. And leaders endorsed the controversial idea of ‘regional disembarkation platforms’ – processing centres for migrants in third countries. The outcome of the summit satisfies no one, and does not reduce the dangers to Schengen’s survival. Initially, Conte said he was satisfied with the deal. But other member-states did not agree to open CER INSIGHT: Merkel’s migration deal: Less than the sum of its parts 9 July 2018
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