EU agrees on landmark reform of asylum seeker,
migrant rules
Dec. 20 (UPI) -- The European Council and the European Parliament reached a landmark deal to deliver on a promise to reform the 27-country bloc's rules on asylum and migration, the two bodies said Wednesday.
The overhaul will finally resolve long-running rows over which EU member state is responsible for handling an asylum application, cooperation between member states and how to handle crises, including the "weaponization" of migrants, according to a news release.
The deal on the core political elements of five key regulations aims to address the concerns of front-line countries bearing the brunt of migration from Africa and the Middle East and northern European states who believe too many migrants are not staying put in the first country they set foot in.
Southern states will implement tougher asylum rules and be given greater powers to remove failed asylum seekers while northern states may either accept a migrant quota or pay into a joint fund, according to the preliminary agreement which must be formally ratified for it to come into force.
The deal could also face delays from the time it would take member states to incorporate the new rules into existing national legislation.
"The EU is delivering on its promise to improve the asylum and migration system. Citizens across the EU want their governments to deal with the migration challenge and today is a big step in this direction," said Fernando Grande-Marlaska Gomez, the interior minister of Spain, which holds the current presidency of the council.
"This reform is a crucial piece of the puzzle. But the EU also remains committed to tackling the root causes of migration, working together with countries of origin and transit and addressing the scourge of migrant smuggling."
Amnesty International condemned the migration pact calling it a setback that would lead to more people being held in de facto detention at EU borders, including families with children and people in vulnerable situations.
"This agreement will set back European asylum law for decades to come. Its likely outcome is a surge in suffering on every step of a person's journey to seek asylum in the EU," said Amnesty International European Institutions Office Director said Eve Geddie.
"From the way they are treated by countries outside the EU, their access to asylum and legal support at Europe's border, to their reception within the EU, this agreement is designed to make it harder for people to access safety."
She said the plan would lower safeguards for people seeking asylum in the EU, with more people channeled through substandard asylum procedures, instead of a fair and full assessment of their claims.
The EU move came as French lawmakers passed a tough new immigration bill after months of political rancor.
The final legislation making it more difficult for migrants to bring their families to join them in France and restricting welfare access won the support of both President Emmanuel Macron's Renaissance party and Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally party.
The vote split Macron's centrist party with Health Minister Aurélien Rousseau resigning over the issue.
Fiercely contested immigration law is
a 'shield that we needed', Macron says
French President Emmanuel Macron defended the adoption of a controversial new law toughening immigration in a televised interview on Wednesday, facing down critics who say he conceded too much to the far right in getting the law passed.
France has always welcomed and will continue to welcome foreigners, in particular asylum seekers and students, President Emmanuel Macron said in an interview with the "C à vous" television programme, his first public remarks since the contested immigration reform was voted into law shortly before midnight on Tuesday.
The law was the necessary result of a compromise, Macron said, noting that he doesn't agree with all aspects of the legislation. "Political life consists of crises, of agreements and of disagreements," he said.
The controversial new rules – including migration quotas, making it harder for immigrants' children to become French citizens and delaying migrants' access to welfare benefits – were added to the bill to win the support of right-wing lawmakers for its passage.
The bill also makes it easier to expel illegal migrants while back-peddling on plans to ease residency permits for workers in labour-deprived sectors.
These measures and others caused unease among Macron's more left-leaning lawmakers, and dozens either abstained or gave it the thumbs-down in Tuesday's vote.
Macron faced cracks within his ruling alliance after parliament passed the bill, including the resignation of his health minister, Aurélien Rousseau.
Although Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally party endorsed the bill in a move some media dubbed the "kiss of death", Macron insisted that he had not "betrayed" the voters who rallied behind him to keep Le Pen from power when he faced her during his 2022 re-election bid.
"It is a shield that we needed," Macron said of the law in his interview on Wednesday. The new legislation is “very clearly” aimed at discouraging illegal immigration.
This law "will allow us to fight against what nourishes the National Rally party", Macron said, notably fears over migration.
France has an "immigration problem", Macron acknowledged, while stressing that the country is not "overwhelmed by immigration".
(FRANCE 24 with Reuters and AFP)
Le Pen's breakout moment? French government
split by far-right backing of immigration bill
Are we at a turning point in French politics? Emmanuel Macron's ruling party is in crisis after the far right threw its weight behind an immigration bill stiffened after a parliamentary compromise. The government insists it had the votes without Marine Le Pen's party, but there's more than one way to read the outcome.
"An ideological victory," hails Le Pen, whose National Rally is now the largest opposition party in France's lower house of parliament. Is this the definitive end of pariah status for a movement with a Nazi collaborator past?
Where does it leave France's term-limited president? The next presidential poll is not until 2027. In a nation where a lot of power is concentrated at the top, will Macron's successor be able to argue, as he did, that those who disagree with him should hold their noses to block Le Pen?
There's also a broader question: whether it's in France, the UK or the Netherlands, why is immigration the issue that's got governments on the backfoot? The crisis in France erupted on the same day the EU agreed to what it bills as its biggest immigration reform in decades. What will be the outcome when citizens vote in EU elections next June?
The EU reform will likely have very limited effect on the Islamization of Europe. France's reform will be more effective but still rather limited. But, at least, it's a step in the right direction, even if it's too late to save the French culture.
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