EU Agrees on Migration, Asylum Reforms

Facts

• On Thursday, the EU agreed to reforms of its migration and asylum laws that would ease the pressure on frontline countries after 12 hours of negotiations in Luxembourg and several years of disagreement.¹
• The European Commission has proposed transferring migrants, mostly from Italy and Greece, to nations that don't host migrants or asylum seekers, who would pay a €20K ($21.5K) fine per each refugee refused.²
• The deal includes a compromise that only member states, not the EU, could determine which nation is "safe" for migrants to return to if found ineligible for asylum and that the refugee must have a "connection" with the third country.³
• Sweden praised the deal as a "good balance" between EU solidarity and aiding asylum seekers. Germany stated that a lack of exemption for families with children was "not an easy one [decision] at all" but that it was important that a deal was agreed upon.⁴
• According to the deal, the European Commission will have the right to move up to 100K migrants a year from countries such as Italy and Greece and transfer them to other EU nations. The fines for refusing migrants will support nations that host migrants.⁵
• Many EU countries urged fellow members to accept the deal, while Hungary and Poland said they wouldn't back it, and Slovakia, Malta, Lithuania, and Bulgaria didn't cast a vote. Last year, over 2K people died while attempting to cross the Mediterranean to Europe.²

Sources: ¹DW(a), ²Guardian, ³Al Mayadeen English, ⁴DW(b), and ⁵GVS United Kingdom.

Narratives

• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by Euractiv. The European Council's compromise decision is an important and historic step in addressing the refugee crisis. Italy and Greece are popular destinations for refugees and asylum seekers and have been overwhelmed by the numbers. The new system will provide funding as well as the opportunity to transfer some of the refugees to other EU member states and empower countries to extradite migrants as they see fit.
• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Oxfam International. The compromise will not actually fix the chronic deficiencies in the EU asylum system; it will only see the EU fulfill its desire to barricade Europe from asylum-seekers. The agreement is a plan for Europe to buy itself out of its responsibility to welcome refugees and exert pressure on non-EU countries to take on Europe's duty. It's a system built to fail.