The new immigration pact marks yet another step backwards for the EU

Borders are being strengthened and migrants are being redistributed, while states that do not want to take care of them will pay for repatriation. But it is a compromise that will leave the Mediterranean countries still isolated

(photo: Jaap Arriens / NurPhoto via Getty Images) Once again, the European Union has not been able to find a community solution to the question of welcoming migrants. The points that emerged from the pact on immigration and asylum presented by the European Commission in the past few hours, which in principle should have led to the coveted overcoming of the Dublin regulation, actually leave everything more or less intact, with some countries that will continue to have the knife on the side of the handle when it comes to relocations and repatriations and others who will be called upon to do most of the work. Approval by the European parliament is expected in the coming months, then by the council.

The Dublin legislation attributes responsibility for a migrant's asylum request to the first country of entry into Europe. This over the years has meant that the Mediterranean countries have suffered a strong migratory pressure, in a highly unbalanced way compared to the rest of the European community. For some time, attempts have been made to overcome this mechanism, so as to introduce real principles of solidarity and cooperation within the EU and the new pact seemed to be the right one in this sense, as the vice president of the commission, Margaritis Schinas had also announced. Instead, what comes out is a simple downward compromise.

Countries will be able to appeal to the EU Commission in case of forecast of strong migratory pressure and landing of migrants rescued at sea. At this point there will be a European obligation to intervene in support of that state, but through forms that appear to be wholly insufficient. States will be able to choose whether to accept the relocation to their territory of a quota of migrants, or whether to contribute economically or with logistical means to the repatriation of the latter, while remaining at a due geographical distance, in the sense that they will remain in the country of disembarkation until actual departure in the country of origin. Beyond this, the new pact provides for very fast screening times to reject those who do not have the right to asylum as soon as possible, thus clarifying that borders are well closed and sealed, for example for economic migrants, referred to in the new text. we do not speak. In addition, the adoption of lists of safe countries is expected in the future, in order to speed up the refoulement processes of people coming from them. All this, in practice, will only widen the pressure on the hotspots, an aspect that is already critical today as the recent news from the Greek camp in Moria shows.

In short, the new pact on immigration and asylum presented by the European Commission appears to be totally geared towards strengthening the EU borders, rather than a shared management of the same. Mediterranean countries will still remain isolated, given that the relocation obligation will continue to be absent, but they will now be able to count on faster mechanisms and greater economic support in the repatriation processes. In short, the vision of countries such as those of Visegrad, which will be able on the one hand to continue to observe the reception processes from a distance without them touching their territory, on the other hand, will be required to give just a small contribution for a purpose - at least from their point of view - noble: repatriate and therefore seal the European borders. This without, however, penalties are envisaged for non-compliance with the solidarity clauses.

The text that was supposed to lighten the pressure on states such as Italy, Spain and Greece, while also renewing the image of the EU in a key of greater humanity and solidarity, ends up increasing the weight of migration management on countries Mediterranean, offering itself at the same time as a hymn to sovereignty and removing further protections on the human rights of migrants. In fact, it was possible to take a step back from all points of view, a problem if you think of the difficulties that the European Union was already experiencing today in the reception mechanisms. Rather than fixing the latter, it was decided to add more bugs to the system. Countries like Italy, Europe's international credibility and, above all, migrants will pay the price.