Brussels, 5 October 2023
Yesterday, EU member states’ representatives reached an agreement on the final component of a common European asylum and migration policy. At a meeting of the Council’s permanent representatives committee, member states sealed their negotiating mandate on a regulation on crisis situations, including instrumentalisation of migration, and force majeure in the field of migration and asylum. This position will form the basis of negotiations between the Council presidency and the European Parliament.
Today we have achieved a huge step forward on a critical issue for the future of the EU. With today’s agreement we are now in a better position to reach an agreement on the entire asylum and migration pact with the European Parliament by the end of this semester.
Fernando Grande-Marlaska Gómez, acting Spanish minister for home affairs
The new law establishes the framework that would allow member states to address situations of crisis in the field of asylum and migration by adjusting certain rules, for instance concerning the registration of asylum applications or the asylum border procedure. These countries would also be able to request solidarity and support measures from the EU and its member states.
Exceptional measures in crisis situations
In a situation of crisis or force majeure, member states may be authorised to apply specific rules concerning the asylum and the return procedure. In this sense, among other measures, registration of applications for international protection may be completed no later than four weeks after they are made, easing the burden on overstrained national administrations.
Solidarity with countries facing a crisis situation
A member state that is facing a crisis situation may request solidarity contributions from other EU countries. These contributions can take the form of:
- the relocation of asylum seekers or beneficiaries of international protection from the member state in a crisis situation to contributing member states
- responsibility offsets, i.e. the supporting member state would take over the responsibility to examine asylum claims with a view to relief the member state that finds itself in a crisis situation
- financial contributions or alternative solidarity measures
These exceptional measures and this solidarity support require the authorisation from the Council in accordance with the principles of necessity and proportionality and in full compliance with fundamental rights of third-country nationals and stateless persons.
Background and next steps
The regulation addressing crisis situation and force majeure in the field of migration and asylum is part of the New Pact on Migration and Asylum proposed by the Commission on 23 September 2020. The pact consists of a set of proposals to reform EU migration and asylum rules. Other landmark proposals in addition to the crisis regulation include the asylum and migration management regulation and the asylum procedure regulation.
- Proposal for a regulation addressing situations of crisis and force majeure in the field of migration and asylum
- EU migration and asylum policy (background information)
- EU asylum rules (background information)
Source – EU Council
Asylum and migration: MEPs welcome Council’s readiness to start negotiations on the Crisis Regulation
The European Parliament announces the resumption of negotiations on Eurodac and Screening Regulations, after the agreement in the Council on the Crisis Regulation proposal.
The European Parliament decided on 20 September 2023 to pause negotiations on Eurodac and Screening Regulations in the absence of a Council mandate on the Crisis Regulation. Following today’s agreement among member states on this mandate, both institutions can now engage in negotiations on all legislative proposals of the New Pact on Migration and Asylum.
The Asylum Contact Group Chair Elena Yoncheva (S&D, BG), made the following statement:
“We welcome the agreement in Council on this key legislative proposal. I would like to thank the Spanish Presidency for all their efforts in seeking a negotiating position over the last months. The reform of the European Union’s asylum and migration policy, to which we committed together with the Council in a Joint Roadmap, is only possible if we have a predictable EU mechanism for supporting Member States in crisis situations, based on solidarity and a fair share of responsibility.
In view of the agreement in Council, the European Parliament will resume interinstitutional negotiations on the Eurodac and Screening Regulations and we once again confirm our commitment to finalise the reform before the current political cycle. While we recognise the differences between the positions of the Council and the European Parliament, we trust that our negotiating team will make all efforts to strike the right balance and find effective solutions.”
Juan Fernando López Aguilar (S&D, ES), Chair of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs and rapporteur for the Crisis Regulation and, said:
“The European Parliament said it loud and clear: there will be no Pact without a fair balance between solidarity and responsibility. Now that the Council has finally delivered its position on the last missing piece of the New Pact, both co-legislators will be able to start negotiations in order to set up a European framework to deal with migratory crisis. We need the Crisis regulation to materialise the solidarity that EU countries have been calling on for too long.”
Background
As agreed in the joint roadmap in September 2022, the adoption of a new legislative framework for migration and asylum represent a top priority in the work of the European Parliament with a view to adopting the legislative proposals before the June 2024 European elections.
Source – EU Council