Germany – not to mention the rest of the EU – is still seeking solutions on migration. Meanwhile, Poland fails to avoid infringement proceedings and MEPs voice their dissatisfaction with the Commission’s CAP proposal.
Last week’s EU summit deal on migration did not calm down the debate. For Luxembourgish radio 100.7, the summit’s nebulous conclusions on migration allow everyone to choose their own interpretation. An “à la carte” migration policy appears to be unfolding in the EU.
Germany: GroKo still in search for a compromise
Discussions on a common asylum policy have not yet come to an end between the German sister parties of the centre-right, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Christian Social Union (CSU), despite the compromise reached by EU leaders last week.
Interior minister Horst Seehofer, from the CSU, wants to meet with his Austrian counterpart to find an agreement about the transit centres planned along their common border, ams radio broadcasted.
Chancellor Angela Merkel made it clear that asylum seekers should stay under police supervision in the transit centres for no more than two days. She hopes to convince the Social-democrats (SPD), also part of the ruling coalition, who have to validate the CSU-CDU deal.
The SPD, opposed to the planned, fenced-in transit camps, also presented its own plan for dealing with migrants.
Andrea Nahles, leader of the Social Democrats (SPD) in the Bundestag (in German):
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“Since the signing of the coalition agreement on March 12, there has been no change in the refugee issue. Those who have further proposals must present and justify them, negotiating them with the coalition partner. At the beginning of such a process, we are involved. In a five-point plan, the SPD has clarified its position: humanity and realism go together. Our principles: no national unilateralism, the rule of law must be complied with and we reject closed camps.”
The coalition partners are meeting again on Thursday evening (July 5).
On Wednesday (July 4), the general debate in the German Bundestag on the 2018 budget turned largely into a debate on the migration dispute between the CSU and the CDU.
Left-wing parliamentary leader Dietmar Bartsch said that the’C’ in both party names now stood for ‘chaos’ instead of’Christian’, reported ams radio.
Dietmar Bartsch, leader of left-wing ‘Die Linke‘ in the Bundestag (in German):
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“The CSU is becoming more radical almost by the hour. With more or less inhumane rhetoric. Especially regarding refugees, it is even more bitter that the CSU has given up any sense of charity and claim to Christian values. They would also have deported Jesus with a smile.”
As for the leader of the far-right AfD party, Alice Weidel, she asked Chancellor Merkel to resign. Once more…
Berlin will seek more Greece-like deals on refugees
With Greece “it has already been agreed that immediate refugees from the region near the border can be returned immediately,” said Chancellor Merkel during Wednesday’s budget debate in the federal parliament.
Interior minister Seehofer is expected to take over the negotiations, SKAI reports:
What’s behind Tsipras’ nod to Merkel?
Did Greek PM Alexis Tsipras get a special VAT regime for some Greek islands in exchange for accepting more refugees in Greece? Die Welt asks the question and SKAI reports:
Orban and Merkel meet to iron out differences
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Hungarian PM Viktor Orban met in Berlin on Thursday (July 5) in an attempt to iron out their difference on migration, in particular so-called secondary movements. Orban reiterated that Hungary was not ready to accept any more migrants.
Viktor Orban, Prime Minister of Hungary (in Hungarian):
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“There is an unfolding legal debate in this regard. Hungary is not the first point of entry to the EU. The first point of entry is Greece. It is only possible to enter Hungary through Bulgaria or Greece – and the vast majority come through Greece, where they are often not registered. Hungary’s strategic goal is to defend Europe and protect the Schengen zone in order to ensure the common market is working smoothly.”
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Orban’s ideas also echoed in Germany
Orban’s policy has won him popular support beyond the Hungarian borders, SKAI reported. Conservative politicians in Germany openly applaud his convictions and choices. He has been a frequent guest at the conferences of Bavaria’s Christian Socialists:
Hardening our stance towards migrants “dangerous”
In an interview with Rádio Renascença, Eugenio Ambrosi, Director of the Brussels-based office of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) – who has also been interviewed by the Euranet Plus News Agency – argues that taking an increasingly hardline stance on migration pushes the EU towards a breach of the law.
“The number of arrivals in the Central Mediterranean has dropped considerably in the last two years, which means that there is much less pressure on Europe in terms of arrivals,” Ambrosi said. Yet this raises a number of other problematic issues on the African coast of the Mediterranean in relation to the conditions under which migrants are kept in Libya. “But in relation to the pressure on Europe, there is a decline,” Ambrosi maintained.
He reiterated the IOM’s position. “There should be a solidarity mechanism involving all EU member states. […] Each one must assume its share of responsibility. You cannot leave the situation to those on the front line.” He asserted that it was “unthinkable to completely stop migration and keep everyone out of Europe.” With this in mind, there should be a legal route for economic migrants wanting to enter the EU, which would help to combat trafficking.
- rr.sapo.pt: Endurecer acolhimento de migrantes é “perigoso” e põe UE no “limite da violação de leis”
Libya has no room for more refugees, MSF complains
Europe wants to relocate migrants and refugees to Africa, but Libya’s precarious detention centres are full. Migrants who are not entitled to asylum are deported, but “legitimate refugees” face “long periods of detention, lack of hygiene and malnutrition,” as Ibrahim Younis, the Médecins Sans Frontières mission chief in Tripoli, said in a Rádio Renascença video.
Proceedings launched against Poland
On Monday (July 2), the European Commission launched an “urgent” infringement procedure against Poland for its reform of the Supreme Court, which is said to undermine the principle of judicial independence. The Law and Justice Party (PiS) government had ruled that the term of one third of the Court’s judges should expire prematurely – on Tuesday (July 3).
During a visit to Warsaw on Tuesday, Belgian foreign minister Didier Reynders called for the intervention of an apolitical institution such as the European Court of Justice, as RTBF reports.
- www.rtbf.be – État de droit en Pologne: Reynders évoque une solution via la Cour européenne de justice
- www.rtbf.be – État de droit en Pologne: la Commission européenne entame une nouvelle procédure d’infraction contre Varsovie
Polish foreign minister Jacek Czaputowicz insisted that his government would let the proceedings take their course and calmly await the outcome.
Jacek Czaputowicz, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Poland (in Polish):
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“Poland has always implemented the rulings of the European Court of Justice, such as in the case of the decision regarding logging in Białowieża Forest. I think that this will also be the case in this instance. For now, our position is that we are in the right and we will settle this dispute with the Commission in our favour.”
On Wednesday, Prime Minster Morawiecki took part in a European Parliament debate on the future of Europe, which ended up focusing almost entirely on the rule of law in Poland.
Only agreeing to address this question after some insistence, Morawiecki resolutely defended his government’s actions and was roundly criticised by representatives of all political groups. Yet he subsequently expressed satisfaction with how the debate had gone, stressing that disagreements were simply part and parcel of parliamentary democracy.
Referring to the controversy surrounding the enforced retirement of Małgorzata Gersdorf, head of Poland’s supreme court, the PM stated that the procedures being followed were both lawful and constitutional. He justified the stance taken by his government by referring back to the turbulent times of the early 1980s.
Mateusz Morawiecki, Prime Minister of Poland (in Polish):
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“There are still judges in the Supreme Court who were nominated in times of martial law. They passed disgraceful judgements against ‘Solidarity‘ activists.”
Following the debate in Strasbourg, Polish MEP Ryszard Legutko of the Eurosceptic ECR group criticised the attitude shown by some MEPs.
Ryszard Legutko, Member of the European Parliament – ECR, Poland (in Polish):
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“It was a ‘non-debate debate‘. It was the perfect illustration of the Polish expression ‘an old man talking to a portrait‘ [when you talk to somebody and they ignore you]. The prime minister was talking and ‘the portrait‘ ignored him. They kept repeating their old arguments and did not react [to what Morawiecki was saying].”
CAP budget post-2020 should not be cut
The European Commission’s proposal on the post-2020 Common Agricultural Policy, better known as CAP, sounds frustrating to many European farmers.
Social democrat MEP Maria Gabriela Zoană, vice-president of the agriculture committee, co-wrote an open letter to the European Commission jointly with other MEPs. They voiced their dissatisfaction with the EU executive’s proposals and suggested ways of improving the next CAP, she explained to Radio Romania.
Maria Gabriela Zoană, Member of the European Parliament – S&D, Romania (in Romanian):
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“From our point of view, the CAP budget must be maintained at the same level. We want protectionist measures. Of course, we appreciate and believe that free trade must continue. However, we cannot allow European farmers’ rights to be forfeited in favour of non-EU farmers. We know very well that, for European farmers, the European Commission has imposed drastic measures to comply with certain standards of production, transport, etc – standards that farmers in other non-EU countries are not obliged to respect.”
OECD proposes Spanish labour reform
Severance pay in Spain is “particularly generous” while notice periods are relatively short, according to a recent OECD Employment Outlook bulletin,
The OECD recommends that Spain carry out labour reforms to increase notice periods while reducing the amount of compensation offered. The OECD suggests that such a reform would allow critical employment support to be provided during the notice period without entailing extra costs for companies. These types of targeted intervention have been shown elsewhere to greatly reduce the duration of unemployment.
esRadio sought the opinion of an economic expert.
Domingo Soriano, economic expert (in Spanish):
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“In most countries that works well, these kinds of things would never be considered in the context of organic labour relations – employers and unions establishing collective agreements that apply to everyone or imposing rigid, unbreakable contracts. But this does happen in Spain, as well as in countries such as Greece and more similar countries such as Italy or France, which also have very serious labour-market problems.”
Latvijas Radio at South Korea’s Jeju Forum
Latvijas Radio was given an exclusive interview with Michael Reiterer, the EU’s ambassador to the Republic of Korea, at the Jeju Forum for Peace and Prosperity, which was held at the end of June.
Reiterer explained that the mood in South Korea was positive, but realistic – because many question marks remained around the issue of denuclearisation.
The ambassador highlighted the close links between Asian and European security.
Michael Reiterer, EU Ambassador to the Republic of Korea (in English):
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“The global strategy of the European Union [spells] out very clearly that the security of Asia and Europe is intertwined. If there is a security problem in Asia, then we have it in Europe, and vice versa. If you take Northeast Asia, this is an economic powerhouse. If it is going well, it is going well in Europe. So we cannot say we are far apart, even if it is true.“
He went on to discuss the possibility of peace efforts succeeding and North Korea opening up, even if couching this in very hypothetical terms.
Michael Reiterer, EU Ambassador to the Republic of Korea (in English):
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“One doesn‘t have to get carried away… As I mentioned, we have the sanctions, and first we have to get rid of the sanctions – and we only get rid of the sanctions if we make progress on denuclearisation. So that has to be clear. However, like our Asian friends – and I‘m saying Asian because it‘s China and it‘s Japan – of course we are thinking what happens ‘if.’ And contingency planning is part of policy making. Therefore we have to think and prepare because there will also then be a sort of competition – not as to who will be the first, but who will influence the rules and standards to be adopted. So I think we have a strategic interest and we are very much aware of it. But we are living in the present and we have to see that we can prepare the conditions, that we can increase trade, investment … There are many ideas around, but for implementation, the time is not ripe.“
Bulgaria praised for positive presidency
As Bulgaria handed the reins of the European Council presidency over to Austria, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker praised Bulgaria’s positive approach during its mandate.
He cited successes in areas including economic and monetary union, the digitisation of Europe and the energy union. Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov also stressed the progress made in key areas, highlighting the decisions to include the Western Balkans to EU’s enlargement agenda, as Bulgarian National Radio reports.
Boyko Borissov, Prime Minister of Bulgaria (in Bulgarian):
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“We set four main priorities and achieved progress in all of them. Undoubtedly, our main success was the inclusion in the EU agenda of the European prospects of the Western Balkans. We put our money on this, guided by the understanding that the incorporation of this region into the EU is a prerequisite for the enhanced development and security of Europe. Peace and prosperity on the continent can be achieved only when the whole of Europe is united. I think our efforts saw results.”
The prime ministers of Greece, Romania, Bulgaria and Serbia have since met to discuss the improved connectivity of the region, including joint road, railway and harbour networks.
- bnr.bg: Жан-Клод Юнкер даде отлична оценка на Българското европредседателство
- bnr.bg: Борисов пред ЕП: Поставихме си четири основни приоритета и постигнахме успехи по всички тях
- bnr.bg: България, Румъния, Сърбия и Гърция ще работят за общ транспортен пръстен
- Authors: Natàlia Segura, Joanna Neville, Hermine Donceel, Euranet Plus News Agency
