The negotiations on the European migration pact took an important step forward yesterday with the change of position of Germany (uncomfortable in the current difficult context in the role of obstacle to the agreement, it stopped blocking the last pending regulation ) and, immediately, another step back courtesy of Italy (in theory of less relevance and the result of the political tactics of the Government of Giorgia Meloni), which distanced itself from the text negotiated by the Spanish presidency of the Council and blocked the last time the deal
“We needed a few more hours” of talks, but “we are convinced that in the coming days we will have a political mandate to negotiate with the European Parliament”, assured Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska, acting president of the Council, at the end of the meeting, held in parallel with political contacts at the highest level between Brussels, Berlin, Madrid and Rome on the urgency of giving a signal of unity in a context as delicate as the current one as a result of the ‘increase in irregular arrivals and asylum requests.
“We will assume our responsibilities and accept the compromise brilliantly negotiated by Spain”, the German Minister of the Interior, Nancy Faeser, announced by surprise at noon, during a public debate. According to the German press, the order to change the position on the crisis management regulation, one of the most delicate parts of the reform of the EU asylum system, came directly from the chancellor, Olaf Scholz.
The revisions, minimal, to the latest compromise proposal presented by the Spanish presidency satisfied the demands of the German delegation and Grande-Marlaska, optimistic, concluded that there was “an indisputable majority” in favor of the proposal and that the in the next few hours the text would be sent to the ambassadors of the Twenty-seven to ratify the agreement. The negotiations, however, stalled on a political scale and the governments’ diplomatic representatives in Brussels are not expected to address the issue until Monday. The matter, Grande-Marlaska maintains, will be resolved “before the Granada summit”, that is to say, of the informal European Council that will take place in this city next Friday.
As diplomatic sources warned before the meeting, the text is so “balanced” that “if it moves a centimeter to win a member state, you can lose another on the other side”. That’s what happened yesterday, although the impression among negotiators is that the Italian blockade responds more to tactical reasons from Minister Matteo Piantedosi, Matteo Salvini’s former chief of staff, than to real problems.
The Italian Government does not agree with some of the changes introduced in the text of the regulation to satisfy Germany’s demands, especially the point that clarifies that the oenages cannot be accused of “instrumentalizing” immigration “when there is no has an objective to destabilize the EU or a member state”. This text covers a loophole that could have been interpreted by Rome in the opposite sense and can be interpreted as a technical matter, but its political relevance is obvious.
The role of the oenagés is precisely the cause of the latest clash between the two states. Meloni wrote to Scholz a few days ago to express his “astonishment” that the German Government “has decided to provide significant funds to organizations that work in the reception of irregular immigrants in Italian territory and in rescues in the Mediterranean”. Rome also does not accept the article on the guarantees of refugee reception conditions in case of crisis that the text now proposes, which is higher than in its previous version.
The Spanish Presidency and the European Commissioner for the Interior, Ylva Johansson, hope to resolve these issues in the technical field in the coming days and thus prevent the issue from reaching the table of the European leaders at the Granada summit. The governments’ common position on this regulation is not the end of the road, but it will allow negotiations with the Eurochamber to close the final texts of the reform. The goal is to finish before the end of the current legislature. It is a fast-moving affair, but it is not clear whether the desperate situations experienced in the Mediterranean will ultimately be a stimulus for the agreement or an obstacle.
