EU countries strike deal for major overhaul of asylum system

European Union member states struck a landmark deal Wednesday to reform the bloc's outdated migration policy after days of marathon talks and years of friction on the issue.

An EU deal seeks to piece together all the aspects of migration management from the very moment migrants reach EU territory until the resolution of their requests for international protection. REUTERS/Antonio Bronic

The reforms are designed to help nations share the cost of hosting migrants and refugees, and to limit the number of people flowing into the bloc.

EU nations, the parliament and the European Commission “reached a deal on the core political elements” of the Pact on Migration and Asylum, the EU’s Spanish presidency said in a statement on Wednesday.

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola hailed the deal as a "landmark agreement" on the messaging platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

20th December 2023 will go down in history.

The day the EU reached a landmark agreement on a new set of rules to manage migration and asylum.

Europe has once again defied the odds.

I'm very proud that with the Migration & Asylum Pact, we have delivered and provided solutions. pic.twitter.com/Ic2AXYeKqN

— Roberta Metsola (@EP_President) December 20, 2023

European Commission chiefUrsula von der Leyen said “migration is a common European challenge– today’s decision will allow us to manage it together.”

But rights groupAmnesty International said the agreement would “set back European asylum law for decades” and would likely see “a surge in suffering on every step of a person’s journey to seek asylum in the EU.”

Preliminary 

The pact is preliminary and still needs to undergo formal ratification, with negotiations focusing on issues including detention periods, racial profiling, unaccompanied minors, search-and-rescue operations and border surveillance.

It seeks to piece together all the aspects of migration management from the very moment migrants reach EU territory until the resolution of their requests for international protection.

It does not alter the so-called "Dublin principle" that says the responsibility for an asylum application lies with the first country a migrant arrives in.

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