The EU Council is unlocked in the night: the 28 heads of state and government of the European Union they found agreement on the conclusions of the summit, including immigration: this was announced by the president of the European Council Tusk, at the end of the long meeting which lasted 13 and a half hours, at 4,30 in the morning on Friday 29 June.
EU28 leaders have agreed on it #euco conclusions incl. migration.
- Donald Tusk (@eucopresident) 29 June 2018
THE SATISFACTION OF PREMIER COUNT
“From today Italy is no longer alone. A more responsible and more supportive Europe emerges from this European Council”. This is the comment of the Italian Prime Minister upon leaving the EU summit. In the final document approved by the European leaders, "a new approach has been passed with regard to rescues at sea: from now on actions based on sharing and therefore coordinated between the member states are envisaged". The proposal of "reception" centers passes to allow the disembarkation and, if necessary, the transit of migrants also in third countries. And in Europe reception centers can also be created within the member states but only on a voluntary basis”. The document approved by the EU "affirms the principle that whoever arrives in Italy arrives in Europe and that all ships arriving in the Mediterranean must respect the law, therefore also NGOs and must not interfere with the Libyan coastguard".
THE STOP AND THE RISK OF FAILURE OF THE EU SUMMIT
This result was not achieved without surprises and there were even fears that the EU Council, perhaps one of the most important in recent years, could end with nothing. In fact, Italy, when the discussion on the issue of immigration began during the leaders' working dinner, blocked the adoption of the conclusions of the first part of the European summit, explaining that Italy intended to vote on the entire document, including the part on migrants under discussion during the evening. In practice, Prime Minister Conte had threatened to veto the document - divided into several chapters. And that would block everything. “One Member State has placed a reservation on the entire draft conclusions", therefore "there was no agreement on the conclusions", announced the spokesman for the President of the European Council Donald Tusk . The final press conference on the first part of the summit having been skipped, everything has been postponed until today, Friday, the second day of the EU Council.
MACRON'S MEDIATION, MERKEL COLD
The result that unlocked the summit was achieved thanks to mediation between Italy and France. The support of the Macron presidency was important in getting the European summit out of the impasse. In fact, during the long night you met Conte and together they gave away a text that found the consensus of some countries. The starting point is on the "voluntary centres" for the reception of migrants to be settled in various European countries - not only in Italy therefore - and on the shared responsibility for the landings.
Accord trouvé sur les migrations : une approche européenne confirmée, un agenda complet acté (action extérieure, protection des frontières, responsabilité et solidarité européennes), les propositions françaises adoptedées. #EUCO pic.twitter.com/M5AxpChJJS
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) 29 June 2018
“Europe will still experience the challenge of migration for a long time to come, we must face this challenge by remaining faithful to our values. Today is an important step because we managed to get a European solution and cooperation work". “Many predicted a lack of agreement or the triumph of national solutions, tonight we found European solutions,” added Macron.
But German Chancellor Angela Merkel dampens enthusiasm: "After an intense discussion on the most difficult issue for the European Union, that is migration, the fact that we have agreed on a common text is a good sign", but "we still have a lot of work to be done to overcome divisions”.
