On Wednesday, the representatives of the member states of the European Union confirmed the agreement on the final form of the so-called migration pact.
Among other things, the series of standards envisages more effective checks on migrants and the faster return of unsuccessful asylum seekers to their countries of origin.
The Czechs, represented by Minister of the Interior Vít Rakušan (STAN), abstained from the vote because they say the pact does not bring a fundamental shift forward, but rather means more bureaucracy.
Prime Minister Petr Fiala (ODS) would like to be even stricter on illegal migration. Even after approval, he announced that it was necessary to proceed beyond the scope of the pact. For example, by wanting to discourage illegal migrants from coming to Europe from the start.
The opposition criticizes the government for only abstaining from the vote as an “alibi” and was not opposed. The chairmen of ANO and SPD talk about the betrayal of Czech citizens and about subterfuge.
List Reports offer answers to key questions.
Why was the new migration pact needed?
The newly agreed pact follows on from the so-called Dublin system from 2013, when only one member state assessed an asylum application and was responsible for the application. It was overwhelmingly the state where the migrant entered first, and this proved to be a problem during the great waves of migration, in which refugees overwhelmed a few countries with their asylum applications and the system began to collapse.
Therefore, in 2016, the reform of this system began to be discussed and the aim was to increase the efficiency of the asylum system and strengthen solidarity between EU countries. According to the Czech government, this is still insufficient and intends to prepare specific steps to solve asylum procedures already in third countries, measures against smugglers and improvement of returns.
What is the new migration package about?
These are ten legislative proposals that count, among other things, for more effective checks on migrants, the faster return of unsuccessful asylum seekers to their countries of origin, or introduce the principle that those EU countries that are overloaded with migration pressure will be helped by others in solidarity. Either by taking over part of the migrants from them, or by supporting them financially or materially.
Details are discussed in the infobox below the article.
Are there still mandatory quotas?
The originally proposed quotas for the redistribution of migrants, which were intended to relieve overburdened countries and transfer part of the responsibility and costs to other countries in the common European area, were highly controversial.
The result of the negotiations is a compromise agreement, which does not necessarily mean receiving migrants for each state, but instead can take the form of a financial contribution in proportion to the costs associated with asylum seekers.
There is also an exception for countries that already have a large number of people with temporary legal protection on their territory, which mainly concerns war refugees from Ukraine. The costs associated with caring for these people will be deducted from the liability set.
Who was in favor and who was against?
The reform of the Migration and Asylum Pact has been discussed in the European Union for about ten years. This and the previous Czech government participated in it. The negotiators of the European Parliament, the Spanish Presidency and the European Commission (EC) already agreed on the final form last December. Hungary and Poland have since failed to convince other states to form a blocking minority together.
Hungary and Poland therefore voted against, Slovakia was against only on a few points and the Czech Republic abstained. The rest of the twenty-seven voted in favor of accepting the asylum pact.
What is the attitude of the Czech government?
According to Prime Minister Fiala, the Czech Republic wanted to be even tougher on illegal migration, which is why it abstained from voting. “We must discourage illegal migrants from coming to Europe in the first place. The solution is a more rigorous asylum procedure even before entering the EU territory, faster returns outside the EU territory, but also other measures, the proposals of which we are now preparing,” he responded after today’s agreement.
Minister Vít Rakušan evaluates the resulting form of the pact as more bureaucratic and weakening the original proposal, but still, according to him, it is an important first step towards an effective solution to illegal migration.
“Together with Denmark, Austria, the Netherlands and other countries, we are preparing concrete proposals on how to solve asylum procedures already in third countries, measures against smugglers and improving returns,” said Vít Rakušan.
What is the position of the Czech opposition?
The opposition movement ANO believes that the government has betrayed Czech citizens. The SPD movement then talks about a setback.
“The whole thing was caused by Fial’s government and especially Vít Rakušan during the Czech presidency (in the second half of 2022), when they prepared the whole thing and invited migrants to Europe,” said ANO head Andrej Babiš. “The fact that they delayed now doesn’t really matter in the end, they should have been against it as a whole V4.”
SPD chairman Tomio Okamura wants to try to reopen the topic on European soil. “Instead of voting against, they abstained as an alibi. The SPD movement does not want any African and Islamic migrants here, we will not respect the migration pact, and if we are in the next government, we will reopen the migration pact on European soil and reject it,” said ČTK.
Will the pact still be discussed?
The agreement approved on Wednesday is final. The new migration and asylum rules will only be formally approved by the Union ministers at the meeting of finance ministers next week on Tuesday. The European Parliament already supported the package at the plenary session at the beginning of April.
What does the Migration Pact also contain?
- A common procedure for granting and withdrawing international protection and strengthening checks on people at the external borders – with an expedited decision on whether to return the migrant to the country of origin or open an asylum procedure, as well as assessing whether the asylum application is unfounded or inadmissible.
- Updating the regulation on the EU database of fingerprints and facial images Eurodac – for more accurate tracking of the movement of asylum seekers.
- New uniform standards in connection with the recognition of refugee status or supplementary protection status and the rights granted to people who are entitled to protection. Applicants for protection will have to remain in the territory of the state responsible for processing their application or in which protection was granted.
- Registered asylum seekers will be able to start working no later than six months after submitting their application. The rules will be set to discourage asylum seekers from moving around the EU.
- The possibility for individual states to adjust some rules, for example those related to the registration of asylum applications or asylum procedures at the border. At the same time, the possibility to ask the EU and its member states for solidarity and support measures in the event of a crisis.
- For humanitarian reasons, Member States will voluntarily offer refuge to people who have been recognized as refugees by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and who move to the territory of the Union in a legal, organized and safe manner. Special attention will be paid to women and girls at risk, people at risk of forced return to their countries, victims of violence and torture, unaccompanied minors, people with health needs or disabilities, and long-term refugees.
