The Pact on EU migration risks being rejected once again

Tomorrow the meeting of European interior ministers, but the chances of them reaching an agreement on the management of flows are minimal. Italy sides with the countries of the East against the reception camps on the border, the unknown factor of the vote

Brussels. The chances of EU interior ministers reaching an agreement on the new pact on migration and asylum in their meeting tomorrow they are reduced to a minimum, at a time when Italy threatens not to approve a compromise that would oblige the countries of first entry to set up a system of camps on their borders similar to islands in Greece, without obtaining relocations in exchange obligations of asylum seekers. The Swedish presidency of the EU will today make a last attempt to reach a technical agreement among the ambassadors of the twenty-seven, before tomorrow’s Internal Affairs Council in Luxembourg. A unanimous consensus appears impossible. Most of the eastern countries are expected to vote against the latest draft. None of the big countries – Germany, France and Italy – have yet said for sure how they will vote. But much will depend on the choice of the Minister of the Interior, Matteo Piantedosi. Italy is decisive for reaching a qualified majority, if the presidency decides to submit the text to a vote. Several diplomats believe that it would be wrong to pass the new migration pact without Italy’s green light, because Rome could decide to go to confrontation ignoring the new rules. Some hope Piantedosi will vote “yes” in exchange for an aid package for Tunisia. Time is running out. Without there being no agreement between governments by June, it will be difficult to find an agreement between the Council and the European Parliament before the end of the legislature in 2024.