European Union in Expectation of the Pact on Migration and Asylum

• Main Author: Olga Potemkina
• Format: Article
• Language: Russian
• Published: Institute of Europe Russian Academy of Sciences 2020-04-01
• Series: Научно-аналитический вестник Института Европы РАН
• Subjects: pact on migration and asylum; german presidency; covid-19 pandemia; internal border control; seasonal workers; legal channels of migration; migrants' identification; asylum seekers
• Online Access: http://vestnikieran.instituteofeurope.ru/images/Potemkina42020.pdf

The article analyses the EU’s preparation Union for discussion and adoption of the Pact on Migration and Asylum, which the Commission’s President, Ursula von der Leyen, announced during her election campaign a year ago. Based on statistical data, the author demonstrates that the coronavirus pandemic has not stopped the flow of people wishing to cross the Mediterranean in the hope of reaching Europe, while member States reduced acceptance of asylum applications by taking advantage of the quarantine. In a situation where migration continues to increase, the EU Commission intends to present the Pact as a tool for modernising and reforming migration and asylum policies. The author identifies innovations in the text of the document that the Commission introduced under the influence of the pandemic. At the same time, relying on the arguments of NGO, the author emphasizes that a number of provisions of the Covenant will raise questions regarding violations of migrants’ rights. The proposals of German Presidency are examined separately. Noting that the positions of the Commission and Presidency are in agreement, the author doubts the ability of Germany, even in spite of its political weight, to advance the reform of the asylum policy, the Central section of the Pact.