N. Peter Kramer’s Weekly Column
The new EU immigration pact is revolutionary. For the first time since the 2015 crisis, member states are supposed to working together to control illegal migration. Trust between the frontline states and the other member states that must show solidarity with Greece, Italy, Spain and Cyprus will be crucial. This solidarity will only last if the countries on the external borders take their responsibility and do everything ‘by the book’.
Expectations are high, which is why the European Commission has tried in recent weeks to put the importance of the start date of 12 June into perspective. ‘That date is not the end but the beginning of a process’, Commissioner for Migration Magnus Brunner said. It will be ‘a marathon’.
Ten new laws should make the 27 EU member states follow the same rules and procedures. But not all member states are ready. They were given two years to transpose all the legislation, adapt the IT systems and build 330 centres at the external borders. Mid-April only eleven member states were on track and eleven others, including crucial countries such as Greece and Italy, were told early May that they ‘urgently need to step up their efforts to achieve the required capacity at the external borders’.
The transposition of the ten legal texts has not yet been completed everywhere. Under Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Hungary refused to implement the migration pact. Talks with the new government have begun, but it is still not yet clear whether Prime Minister Peter Magyar will want to implement the pact.
Commissioner Brunner acknowledged already that ‘not everything will be perfect from day one’. He also said, ‘Some member states will need a few more weeks or months’...
