EU states: agreement on key points of the asylum reform
For weeks, EU member states have been negotiating a reform of the bloc's asylum system which primarily foresees more stringent measures. Now the states have agreed on a common stance on the EU Commission's proposals for a Crisis Regulation. Under the new rules, in the event of sudden increases in the number of arrivals migrants can be detained for longer periods under conditions similar to detention. Europe's press focuses on national interests.
A victory for Meloni
Rome has got its way in the end, writes Corriere della Sera:
“The agreement came about because Italy and Germany overcame the tensions that arose last Thursday at the EU foreign ministers' summit. ... After tough negotiations the Italian demand to return to the July text in which NGOs were not mentioned in the main body of the regulation but only in the preamble was accepted. Germany and Italy have different positions on the role of NGOs, which Rome sees as a pull factor. In July, a delicate balance had been reached which Italy supported. This means that the Italian position has prevailed, Rome stressed with satisfaction.”
Better than no compromise at all
The Süddeutsche Zeitung considers the agreement on the asylum system intolerable in terms of content, but politically unavoidable:
“The many critics are of course right: it is planned as a fortress and resembles a barricade of atrocities that has been built to stop people seeking protection or even just prospects for the future in Europe. In future, if there are too many of them it will be possible to lock them up for long periods in camps on the EU's external borders. This has little to do with a humane refugee policy - nor is it intended to. ... But there is a signal that would have been even worse: that the European states were unable to agree on anything at all on the issue of migration, not even on a poor compromise.”
Dictated by Germany's state elections
La Repubblica analyses why the agreement is so important for Germany:
“For Scholz and his 'traffic light' government, the most quarrelsome in history, the longed-for European reform comes like a reef in stormy seas. As in Italy, the migration issue is the most discussed topic in newspapers, talk shows and social media. This is all the more so in the days leading up to the elections in two important federal states: in rich and powerful Bavaria and in Hesse, the land where Frankfurt is located. Two election dates that will be the first test for the monstrous rise of the far-right AfD in the polls. In Hesse and Bavaria, the xenophobic, pro-Russian and anti-European party is fluctuating between second and third place in the latest polls.”