The European Parliament approves the EU migration pact after a tense debate

This Wednesday, the European Parliament, after a tense debate and years of negotiations, gave its final approval to the new rules that should govern the EU's migration and asylum policy in the future. A set of rules that does not fully satisfy anyone, from the extreme right that says it is not tough enough, to the left and even part of the political center that considers it goes too far and will further restrict the rights of migrants. But Brussels is confident that it will allow for more coherent regulation of one of Europe's external challenges that will continue to increase with the multiplication of political conflicts and natural crises that give rise to large migratory flows.

The agreement, a compendium of rules that restrict the possibilities of entry into the EU, establish the rights of those who can opt for asylum and set for the first time reception quotas that each Member State must accept, among other aspects, was approved in a Tense voting in the plenary session interrupted after the first vote by a group of activists who, from the stands, called to “vote no” for a “pact that kills.” After being evacuated from the room, between the applause of part of the chamber and the silence of most of the MEPs, a vote that was at times fair but sufficient to provide the EU with new immigration rules was quickly concluded.

“We have achieved a robust legislative framework that is the same for all Member States and that puts humanity first, that secures European external borders, provides clarity in the applicable rules and achieves the appropriate balance between solidarity and responsibility with respect to fundamental rights,” he said. celebrated by the president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola. “Those who need protection will be protected, but those who do not need it will have to return to their countries of origin,” said the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.

During the two long hours of debate that preceded the vote on the total of ten regulations and measures that make up the Migration and Asylum Pact, it became clear that the text is far from perfect. This was recognized even by the MEPs who defended its approval and the European commissioners present, the vice president for the Protection of the European Lifestyle, Margaritis Schinas, and the head of the pact negotiations as head of the Interior, Ylva Johansson. But the alternative, they warned, was a status quo which has been shown to not work and does not benefit Europeans or migrants.

Furthermore, the possibility of improving an agreement that has taken almost a decade to close is practically impossible, they argued, especially in an increasingly right-wing Europe both at the level of governments and in the European Parliament itself, where vote projections in the elections European elections in June predict a significant reinforcement of the extreme right.

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“If we reject it now, the new Parliament may be further to the right. Are they going to leave immigration policy to this new Parliament? I certainly don't,” said Dutch liberal Sophie in 't Veld, one of the negotiators of the texts. “There is no better alternative to this pact; If it is not approved, we will be in a race to the bottom where the right to asylum in Europe will disappear,” she warned. “I have heard legitimate criticism and I respect it. But the alternative to not voting is worse,” agreed socialist Juan Fernando López Aguilar.

The vote was, especially on some of the key texts, closer than usual. This is the case of the regulation on the management of asylum and migration, which establishes the principle of “mandatory, but flexible” solidarity of the States, under the principle that everyone must contribute to the management of migration. The guidelines establish a distribution of 30,000 asylum seekers (in 2023 more than 286,000 people arrived irregularly in the EU, according to the IOM) to be relocated among all Member States, distributed by population and GDP criteria. Those who reject it must pay a fee of 20,000 euros per person. This key regulation has been approved with 322 votes in favor, 266 against and 31 abstentions. Among the negative votes are those of the entire extreme right and most of the left and the greens, as well as some socialists, among them French, and conservatives, especially Poles. In fact, the Polish Prime Minister, the conservative Donald Tusk, has already declared that his country will not accept the migrant relocation mechanism despite this Wednesday's vote in Brussels.

This pattern has been repeated in other important regulations: votes against from the extreme right and left and mostly in favor of the traditionally pro-European parties: Socialists and Democrats (S&D), European People's Party (EPP) and the liberals of Renew. However, especially in the case of socialists and popular ones, although most of their members have respected the call of their formations to support the migration pact, there have been contrary movements, marked both by the conviction that it is not a good text Also, by national calculations with a view to their own electoral procedures with an eye fixed on the European elections in June. This is the case of the popular Poles, but also, among others, of some French or Italian socialists, reluctant to support rules that the Governments of Emmanuel Macron in France and Giorgia Meloni in Italy have supported.

“Those who are against the pact are both on the left and on the extreme right. “This shows that we are in the middle, where we should be, because the only way to have a solid commitment is to have the social democrats, the popular and liberals and some others, and also have the majority of the member states supporting it,” said the Commissioner Johansson after the vote, which she described as historic, as did the majority of European officials.

Organizations such as Doctors Without Borders do not see it that way, which has denounced that the migration pact is “an abolition of the right to request asylum in the EU” that “will have catastrophic consequences for the lives of people seeking safety and protection in Europe” because “endorses rejections at the border, hinders access to asylum and unfairly criminalizes migrants and refugees.” Faced with these accusations, Johansson has declared herself calm with the guarantees of the text: “I have the full support of UNHCR (UN refugee agency) and that is proof that we are protecting the rights of asylum seekers better than until now.” now,” he told this newspaper after the vote. “It is not the solution to all the challenges, but we have given a legislative response to a European demand,” Metsola defended at a press conference.

The migration pact must still receive final approval from the States, something that the Belgian presidency of the Council of the EU plans to do at the end of the month. A theoretically protocolary action, since there was already an agreement, but in view of the complexity of this matter, especially so close to the European elections in June, and the last-minute renegotiation precedents that have occurred in recent months, it is not It still allows the vote to be taken for granted.

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