Spain, which is about to assume the European Union’s rotating presidency, said on Thursday that it hoped to finish the bloc’s migration policy reform by the end of the year.
EU governments, under pressure to reduce migrant arrivals, last week agreed on steps to fast-track the return of migrants to their countries of origin or transit countries deemed ‘safe’.
The preliminary agreement opens the way for negotiations with the European Parliament on legislation that could be adopted before European elections in June next year.
‘I hope we can seal this deal on migration and asylum, which is so important for all European member states,’ Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said as he unveiled Spain’s s priorities for its EU presidency, which begins on 1 July.
‘But there remains a very important element, which is regulations for crisis management, on which we are already working on,’ he added.
The proposal agreed to last week calls for compulsory help between EU countries, but with an option of doing that in one of two ways.
The priority is for EU countries to share the hosting of asylum-seekers, taking in many that arrive in nations on the bloc’s outer rim, mainly Greece and Italy.
The agreement said nations that refuse would instead be required to pay a sum of €20,000 per person into a fund managed by Brussels.
Spain will hold an early general election on 23 July, just three weeks after it takes over the rotating six-month EU presidency from Sweden.
Sánchez announced the general election, following the disastrous results in the 28 May local and regional elections for his socialist (PSOE) party and the junior coalition partner, the left-wing Podemos group.
Polls suggest the 23 July general election could lead to a return of the right-wing People’s Party (PP) to power, although it would most likely need to rely on the far-right Vox party to govern, possibly in a coalition.
Sánchez said a change in government would not affect Spain’s presidency since it has been prepared in cooperation with ‘all institutional, social and political actors’.
Los españoles creemos en Europa. A lo largo de las últimas cuatro décadas, la UE ha hecho mucho por nosotros.
— Pedro Sánchez (@sanchezcastejon) June 15, 2023
Ahora ha llegado el momento de que enseñemos al mundo lo mucho que los españoles podemos hacer por la Unión.
Nuestra presidencia será la de la cercanía.#EU2023ES pic.twitter.com/h58rizME2n
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