EU ministers still stuck on migrant relocation distribution

Many areas of disagreement remain between EU member states on how to respond to the migration crisis in the Mediterranean.

In the latest LIMITE document issued by the Concil of the European Union ahead of a  Justice and Home Affairs Council on 15-16 June in Luxembourg, member states are still at loggerheads over the proposed concept of migrant relocation in order to respond to high volumes of arrivals. These include a temporary scheme for persons in need of international national protection.

“The total number of persons to be relocated, the available funding, and the capacity of the Member States’ structures to deal with relocation were equally questioned,” the Council said.

Ministers will now be asked to consider how possible it would be to establish a mechanism providing support for member states under migratory pressures, “while taking into account the concerns expressed.”

Member states like the UK and Hungary expressed diverging views on the binding nature of the burden sharing among states.

Some questioned the distribution key proposed by the Commission, and in particular the objectivity of the proposed criteria.

“The total number of persons to be relocated, the available funding, and the capacity of the Member States' structures to deal with relocation were equally questioned.

“However, there is a common understanding of the need to establish a mechanism that would provide support for the member states under particular migratory pressure, including options for emergency relocation. It should be recalled that in the statement of 23 April the Heads of State and Government committed to ‘consider options for organising emergency relocation between all Member States on a voluntary basis’. Some member states have called for the urgent adoption of the proposed measure and its implementation as soon as possible as suggested by the Commission.”

Some concerns were expressed relating to the geographical balance of the Agenda, with some member states suggesting that the above measures would not provide sufficient relief in crisis situations if they were to occur at the EU external land borders, and not just at the Mediterranean.

The Council reported wide consensus on the cooperation with third countries “since both the root causes of and solutions to migration related issues can be sought there.”

Some member states have suggested to strengthen the links with the Internal Security Strategy.