Skip the reform of Dublin regulation, which regulates the right of asylum for migrants arriving in the EU. The Dublin regulation, in its latest version of 2014, establishes in particular which State must take charge of the asylum request made by a person arriving on European territory. At the meeting of the 28 interior ministers in Luxembourg, in addition to Italy, 10 other countries opposed the change in the rules proposed in the form of a compromise by the Bulgarian presidency. The list of members who said no includes Spain, Germany, Austria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
In the end, therefore, too Germany surrendered ahead of the blockade of the countries of Visegrad and Southern Europe, including Italy. Only this morning did the German Secretary of State, Stephan Mayer, upon his entry to the Internal Affairs Council in Luxembourg, say that Berlin was “open to a constructive discussion. But the reform, as it currently stands, we do not accept it”.
At the exit of the council, the Belgian state secretary responsible for Migrations, Theo Francken, summed up: “The reform of the Dublin regulation is dead".
The new Italian Interior Minister, Matteo Salvini, consider what happened today”a win: we had a contrary position and other countries followed us, we split the front. It means that it is not true that European policies cannot be influenced”. The Northern League leader had long ago announced that Italy would say "no to the new asylum policies because they leave the Mediterranean countries, Italy, Spain, Cyprus and Malta alone". And he didn't show up for the meeting.
Meanwhile, the Austrian Interior Minister, Herbert Kickl, announced that – in the absence of an agreement on the Dublin reform at the summit of European Union leaders in June – in September, with the start of his presidency semester, Vienna will present "a small Copernican revolution" on asylum policies.
The rules in force today are those of the Dublin III regulation, in force since 2014, which obliges the country of entry (ie the first one in which the migrant sets foot upon his arrival in the EU) to carry out the procedures for the right to asylum. It is a system that penalizes the Mediterranean countries (Italy, Greece and Spain), the first to intercept migratory flows from Africa and the Middle East.
Over the past three years, the bilateral agreements with Türkiye and Libya - the main countries of transit - have contributed to slowing down the flows, however opening a debate on the violations of human rights that take place in the temporary reception camps in these "transition" territories.
Then there are the instances of the so-called Visegrad Group – made up of Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia – which he blew up in 2015 the plan formulated by the European Commission for a fair distribution of migrants in order to lighten the pressure on the countries of Southern Europe.
At that point, a emergency plan with which the EU member countries agreed to relocate 160 Syrians and other refugees from Italy and Greece to other EU countries within two years. However, so far only 34.690 people have been relocated, while most have attempted to reach Germany or other northern European countries by roundabout routes.
La most recent compromise proposal, the one formulated by Bulgaria and skipped today, aimed at reducing secondary movements, i.e. those of asylum seekers who arrive in one EU country and try to reach another. Sofia's proposal envisaged the compulsory reallocation of asylum seekers only as a last resort, however it would hardly have reduced the pressure on countries such as Italy.
