Tajani brings the migrant dossier to Europe today. Resistance and attempts for mediation – Corriere.it

FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT
BRUSSELS – To understand what to expect from the Foreign Affairs Council held today in Brussels, we must remember that the war in Ukraine is still ongoing with all its consequences. And this will be the heart of the meeting of the ministers of foreign affairs of the 27 EU countries, as explained by various sources at Courier. However, at the request of Italy, in light of what happened last week with NGO ships in our territorial waters, there will be a point on the immigration dossier: Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, who will make his debut in this role, will be listened carefully, the sources assure.

The tensions that have arisen between Italy and France are not good for the EU, he stresses an EU diplomatic source. And it is probable that the ministers of the 27 member states in their declarations at the entrance will return to the topic of hospitality, with the risk that everyone will also claim their own action. But it is also likely that there are attempts at mediation. Much will depend, he explains, on the intervention of Minister Tajani. The Luxembourg foreigner Jean Asselborn explained to theHandle that «on the immigration dossier we will read the real intentions of the newly elected Italian government on how much Europe it wants. I sincerely hope that it is just a hiccup at the start of the new government in Rome ”.

At this stage, the Commission’s effort is to invite Member States to coordination and cooperation. Rescues at sea are regulated by international law – recalls an EU source – so the EU executive has no say, it is not up to him to indicate which is the nearest safe harbor. Instead, he is responsible for asylum-related policies. On 20 September two years ago, the Commission proposed a new pact on migration and asylum which is still under negotiation because states are unable to agree. In order to review the rules it is necessary that all, the countries on the front line on the Mediterranean (Italy, Greece, Malta, Cyprus and Spain), such as those of the East, starting from Poland, which are managing the flows of displaced from the war in Ukraine, together with the protagonists of secondary movements (the phenomenon of migrants who move from the country of first entry to go to seek asylum in another EU state) such as France, Germany, Holland and Belgium, find shared solutions.

A small step forward was achieved in the Internal Affairs Council on 22 June last when the EU states agreed on the negotiating positions, to be held with the EU Parliament, on the Eurodac regulation (the database with the fingerprints of irregular migrants and asylum seekers registered in the EU states) and on the regulation on investigations to strengthen the control of persons at the external borders. At the same time, 21 member states and associated countries confirmed their adherence to the voluntary solidarity mechanism in the form of relocations or financial contributions. It is the mechanism to which France has decided not to join anymore. The fear now, they observe in Brussels, is that everything will be called into question. On the external dimension – agreements and aid with countries of origin and transit – even the former premier Draghi had requested an intervention by the Commission, obtaining that it was included in the conclusions of three European Councils. The Czech presidency will decide this week whether to convene an extraordinary meeting at ministerial or technical level by the end of the month. An Internal Affairs Council is already scheduled for 8 December and EU leaders will meet on 15 and 16 December.