The European Parliament, meeting in plenary in Strasbourg, gave the green light on 20 April to the four proposals for regulations for the reform of Community policies on migration and asylum: the so-called “pact” which should be closed by 2024.
The vote comes after the obstruction exercised on April 19 by the right-wing Conservatives and Reformists and Identity and Democracy groups, with a blitz that led to today’s plenary vote on the entire “package” packaged by the Commission for Civil Liberties, justice and home affairs (Libe).
Now the Eurochamber can enter into interinstitutional negotiations with the Council, the institution that brings together the competent ministers of the 27 EU countries. In the event of a hostile vote on one of the texts, the entire reform project would be postponed to the May plenary session, with the risk of repercussions on the stability of the so-called Ursula majority: the pro-European axis between Populars, Socialists and Liberals, today also cracked by the hypothesis of an alliance between the People’s Party and the Conservatives in view of the 2024 elections.
The four approved proposals and the right-wing blitz
In detail, the green light from the Eurochamber has been received by the three bills that fall within the so-called “migration and asylum pact” and a fourth that would change the status of long-term residents. The first three draft regulations concern, respectively, crisis situations and force majeure, checks on third-country nationals at the external borders and ECRIS-TCN (European Criminal Records information System) and asylum and migration management . The fourth proposal includes amendments to the current long-term residents directive.
The vote of 20 April is the result of three days of tensions and skirmishes over one of the most delicate legislative packages for EU politics and the survival of the pro-European majority itself. On April 17, at the debut of the plenary session in Strasbourg, the mandates prepared by the commission for civil liberties, justice and internal affairs (LIBE) were announced to start negotiations with the EU countries meeting in the Council. On 19 April the two right-wing groups European conservatives and reformist and Identità e Democrazia, families respectively of the Brothers of Italy and the Lega, expressed their objections and postponed the verdict to the vote of the assembly on 20 April. The yes received on all four texts on the agenda unlocks the procedure that will now have to go through the negotiating tug of war with the various member states.