the Twenty-Seven in favor of a new law to “accelerate” the expulsions of migrants in an irregular situation

On the occasion of the European summit, the heads of state of the 27 countries that make it up were largely in favor this Thursday of the establishment of an “emergency” law aimed at “accelerating” expulsions concerning migrants in situation irregular.

An expected position. Gathered at a European summit in Brussels, the Twenty-Seven raised their voice this Thursday against irregular immigration, by calling “urgently” for a law to accelerate expulsions, following discussions which also highlighted strong disagreements within the bloc.

“The European Council calls for determined action, at all levels, to facilitate, increase and accelerate returns from the European Union,” the Member States insisted in the summit conclusions. They invite the European Commission to quickly submit “a new legislative proposal”.

A debate that has “evolved”

The President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, took the lead on Monday, proposing a new law within a timetable which remains to be determined. A similar initiative failed in 2018, but “six years later, the debate has evolved”, “towards the right” of the political spectrum, notes a European official.

Previously, the 27 had discussed at length “return hubs”, a flammable proposal for the transfer of migrants to reception centers in third countries. Indeed, the Italy of Giorgia Meloni, head of government and of the far-right party Fratelli d’Italia, has reached a controversial agreement with Albania, where the first migrants arrested in Italian waters are starting to arrive.

But several European officials were reluctant about such a measure, with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz believing that these centers would only be a “drop in the bucket” and “not a solution” for “big countries”. The “hubs” have “never shown in the past” that they were “very effective and it has always been very expensive,” criticized Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo.

Spain, for its part, opposes these outsourced centers, while France, cautiously, calls for “favoring returns when conditions permit”, rather than “in hubs in third countries”, according to the Élysée.