The representatives of the 27 European Union member states have failed to reach an agreement on a key aspect of the migration and asylum pact.
During a meeting held on July 26 where the representative discussed the rules for migration and asylum and the current situation, they did not find common ground.
Due to this, the migration reforms that have been planned by the Commission of the European Union will be delayed.
As Info Migrants explains, the Spanish EU presidency suggested a compromise. However, it failed to have the support of several countries.
Several EU member states, such as Austria, Czechia, Poland, and Hungary said that they were against the proposal.
Moreover, some other countries, Germany, the Netherlands, and Slovakia said that they would abstain. These countries said that they are concerned about some rules as the standard for granting asylum might be lowered, thus leading to a higher number of asylum seekers in the countries.
In contrast, Italy said that it supports the proposal from Spain.
Since the EU member states failed to reach an agreement on the matter, the planned reforms on migration and asylum are not expected to be discussed again until after the summer break is over or even later.
According to Info Migrants, the two main points of disagreement between the member states has to do with crisis situations that might result in a migration spike.
It has been noted that there was disagreement on what would amount to a crisis situation as well as on the extent to which the member states of the EU should be allowed to break with normal procedures in crisis situations.
As revealed, Spain’s proposal included some rules that permitted countries to have asylum centres at the border for a longer period of time. Moreover, the proposal included rules that allowed member states to lower the standards of accommodation during a crisis.
Reportedly, Germany was the main opponent of such a proposal. The country expressed its concern, saying that this could result in human rights issues.
Meanwhile, Hungary and Spain saw the rules proposed by Spain as not going far enough and called for improvements.
The member states also disagreed on whether they should suspend the return of asylum seekers to the first country they entered in the bloc.
Earlier in April of this year, the EU Parliament confirmed the screening and asylum management reform mandates.
The Parliament agreed to open talks with the member states of the EU on migration and asylum files to have better control over nationals of third countries entering the bloc for migration purposes.
