Green light from the European Chamber for the new Migration and Asylum Pact . A process that lasted ten years and which therefore leads to talk of a "historic agreement", with the EU Commission led by Ursula von der Leyen thus ending its mandate by bringing home one of the crucial dossiers of this legislature. The final yes will now have to come from the EU Council, where a qualified majority of the 27 member countries will be needed .
On the political meaning of the pact, the summary is in the words of the President of the Commission Ursula von der Leyen, who also addresses Italy: «With the pact on migration no country will be left alone , we have introduced a mandatory solidarity mechanism: 'The best Europe is the Europe that moves united.' But above all: "The rules make external borders safer by protecting people's fundamental rights."
The president of the European Chamber Metsola also rejoices: «We have kept our words and made history, finding a balance between solidarity and responsibility».
THE OPPOSITION – The objective of the new Pact has been from the beginning to rebalance the responsibilities and burdens in the management of asylum seekers among EU countries . A solidarity deemed necessary by most but which still found opposition from Hungary and Poland, despite the change of government in Warsaw.
« The Pact on Migration is another nail in the coffin of the European Union », the words of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán . «Unity is dead – he continued – safe borders no longer exist. Hungary will never give in to the frenzy of mass immigration. We need a change in Brussels to stop migration."
THE VOTE – Migration policies, over the years, have divided member countries, split governments and shattered alliances. And the vote on the new Pact was no different, also with reference to Italy. Fdi voted yes to a large part of the package , in line with the government but in dissent from the Conservatives and Reformists and differently from its allies: Fi, totally in favor, and the League, against more than half of the texts and far from the position of the Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi. The vote lasted an hour and was preceded by a trail of suspense fueled above all by dissent within the socialists: the French delegation but above all the Democratic Party announced their vote against . For the Dems, the only exception was represented by the regulation on the management of asylum and migration, which includes the solidarity mechanism.
WHAT IT INCLUDES – The new Pact, in short, seeks to respond to a fundamental need: to provide unique rules throughout Europe, given that this has not been the case until now. At the center of the reform is the balance between responsibility (on the part of the countries of first arrival) and solidarity (on the part of the others). Enough therefore with a dysfunctional system that placed all the burdens of control on border states, in the Mediterranean but not only, but then allowed migrants to scatter throughout the EU, creating the odious phenomenon of secondary movements (often people fleeing without documents), a source of tension between countries and of insecurity for the migrants themselves.
From now on, the nation of first arrival will have to collect the asylum application, manage the person and the case quickly, but will be able to count on the help of others, either in terms of relocation or financial contributions. Above all, however, those who arrive from a part of the world that is not so disastrous and are not entitled to EU protection will be repatriated quickly. Or at least, that's the idea. The implementation of the new rules, which are very complicated on a technical level, will now be crucial. The 27 will have two years to do so.
(Unioneonline/vl)
