An agreement was signed between 27 states of the European Union that approved two legislative packages on border procedures and asylum management. Now we have to wait for the review in the European Parliament.
The rules were discussed and approved in Luxembourg during a very long meeting of the EU Home Affairs Council and constitute a formulated system of provisions that make up the new “Migration Pact.” Poland and Hungary were the only countries that voted against, while Malta, Lithuania, Slovakia, and Bulgaria abstained.
“You, in the Council, have restored confidence – this is what has been done for years, and that is why it is possible to have hard negotiations and reach a compromise,” commented Ylva Johannson, Commissioner for Internal Affairs, on the sidelines of the meeting. “We have demonstrated that together we can work on migration, and we are much stronger when we do it.”
Among the issues that have emerged in the course of the lengthy debate is the definition of “safe third countries” where migrants who have not been granted asylum could be sent.