The photo, widely shared on social media, says a lot about the current priorities of the European Union (EU) and the balance of power developing there. We see Giorgia Meloni, the president of the Italian council, sitting with ten of her counterparts, including the Dutchman Dick Schoof, the Danish Mette Frederiksen, the Greek Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the Austrian Karl Nehammer, the Polish Donald Tusk, the Hungarian Viktor Orban and The president of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.
Before the meeting of European heads of state and government on Thursday, October 17 in Brussels, they met to discuss these “innovative solutions” against immigration, so popular in the Old Continent in recent weeks, and of which Italy, which has outsourced the processing of asylum applications to Albania, wants to be the spearhead.
There is “another environment” that in the past on migration issues in Europe, greeted Dick Schoof. “There has never been such a consensus on this issue and this consensus has drifted to the right of the political spectrum”says a senior European official, as the right and far-right advance across Europe.
Call for new partnership agreements
In this context, more and more Member States are demanding a tightening of Community policy in this area, despite the 42% drop in irregular entries into the EU since the beginning of the year. Even Germany, long a welcoming land, has reinstated its border controls and tightened its entry conditions. “It is about tightening European standards while remaining faithful to our values”specifies the French president, Emmanuel Macron.
Six months after the adoption of the Pact on Asylum and Migration, which must harmonize in particular the procedures for receiving and processing applications from exiles at the borders of the Union, Europeans must return to work. Madrid, Berlin and Paris, among others, call for an accelerated entry into force of the text before the deadline of June 30, 2026.
The Twenty-Seven also demand new association agreements similar to what is done with Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: in exchange for development aid, they undertake to better control exits. Ursula von der Leyen has already announced that she will discuss with Senegal, even with Mali.
Europeans also hope that Ursula von der Leyen will present them, as she announced this week, with new legislation on the expulsion of those who have been denied asylum. Although only 18% of them actually leave the EU, the current rules, in force since 2008, should be significantly tightened. The European Parliament, where the right and far-right have gained seats thanks to the June 10 European elections, should continue this way.
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