EU Narrowly Passes Pact on Migration and Asylum

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Facts

• The European Union on Wednesday voted on a controversial set of reforms regarding migration and asylum rules as the 27-nation bloc's parliament passed the Pact on Migration and Asylum in a series of 10 votes.¹
• EU states had been working to approve the pact since 2015 when Europe’s migrant crisis exploded due to 1.3M refugees fleeing from Syria and Iraq. Over the last nine years, there has been fierce debate over the EU's migration policy and responsibilities.²
• The changes still need approval from the EU states, a formality that will happen within the next month before they take effect in 2026. The pact 'limits irregular migration' and 'relieves the burden' on countries that have been disproportionately affected by mass migration.³
• The pact is made up of 10 legislative texts, all of which passed despite strong opposition from both the left and right. The reforms include measures to relocate migrants to different EU countries.⁴
• This reform doesn't alter the 'Dublin principle,' which places asylum application responsibilities on the country of arrival. However, it enhances screening procedures and tweaks existing databases to accommodate more information.⁵
• In order to distribute migrants more evenly, the bill requires member countries to accept more people. A member country can provide alternative assistance, mainly financially, if it doesn’t want to accept more people.⁶

Sources: ¹Associated Press, ²Voice of America, ³Dw.Com, ⁴Europarl, ⁵Euronews and ⁶Al Jazeera.

Narratives

• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by Washington Post. This is a major step toward solving problems related to migration and asylum, and the EU should be proud it came to a compromise despite those on the extremes attempting to undermine an agreement. The EU has prioritized common sense and compassion in a way that will improve Europe’s immigration system for years to come.
• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by The Copenhagen Post. The EU continues to ignore the will of its people when it comes to mass migration. Both sides of the political aisle are fed up with Brussels' out-of-touch approach to dealing with an issue that's fundamentally and permanently damaging Europe. Europe has a major migration issue that must be addressed at a deep level.

Predictions