Brussels, Sep 27 (EFE).- The president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, warned that it cannot be justified that the European Union has to return to the polls once again in 2024 without there being an agreement on immigration reform and asked Member States to work to resolve the blocking minority led by Germany on the crisis management mechanism.
“I say this with regret: we could have formed a majority in the past but the excuse was used that consensus (was preferable). This is an area where decisions are made by majority. Now we have to ensure that there is no blocking minority in the Council, which is what worries me in the case of crisis management,” Metsola said in an interview with the European Editorial Team of news agencies, including EFE.
The European Parliament decided last week to paralyze negotiations with the Council (European Union countries) on two regulations of the future European Pact on Migration and Asylum – specifically, two that are of interest to EU governments – in protest at the slowness with which countries are advancing in a key piece of this reform: legislation on crisis management, key to the solidarity aspect of migration.
Metsola said he was “optimistic” about the possibility of finding an agreement on the crisis management mechanism “in the coming weeks” and on the pact as a whole in the final months of the legislature since, he said, he cannot “justify how, “five years later (…), we have not found a solution.”
“That is why I continue to use the word ‘optimistic’, because I cannot imagine going to my electorate and telling them that five years have passed, that next week will mark ten years since the Lampedusa tragedy (…) and that we continue in this situation,” lamented Metsola, who before becoming president of the European Parliament focused his legislative work on migration issues.
In this sense, the Maltese proposed not to focus on the part of the pact that has been paused as a pressure measure and instead pointed out that “only the security part cannot be promoted without addressing the issue of asylum.”
“All efforts must be made to resolve last-minute obstacles,” asked Metsola, who preferred not to single out Germany for being the most active in its blockade but, he assured, appreciates that there are countries that “put their concerns on the table.” “.
“There will be countries that do not accept it. This is not new, but they should be able to find a majority. Balance will be found,” confided the president of the European Parliament.
Asked if the problems with the recent migration agreement between the EU and Tunisia are also affecting the negotiations, Metsola called for “consistency” in the way of dealing with the different neighboring countries but acknowledged that, until a solution is found in which asylum applications can be managed outside the EU, “we will have to have a dialogue with countries in which migrants see no other solution than getting on a boat.”
