Solidarność? Deny!

(BRUSSELS2) Between the 28 European Member States, the question of the reception of asylum seekers has not finished making waves. The discussion at the Brussels summit on Thursday evening (June 25) — a discussion that lasted late into the night — showed this.

Two proposals on the table

The European Commission had put two proposals on the table. One aimed at taking care of 20.000 refugees, mainly Syrians, who are in the camps of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). This proposal did not cause much controversy, being essentially based on voluntary work. The other aimed to relieve Greece and Italy a little, by allowing the “relocation” of 40.000 people to other European countries over two years. It is this last proposal, all in all quite modest, which caused the trouble because it put in place a distribution key, fixing a “compulsory” number of people. Sort of quotas.

Two camps

Two camps thus clashed for more than six hours, Thursday evening, until late at night. Some, about a dozen, were opposed to any compulsory system. They essentially brought together the countries of Eastern Europe, in particular the Baltic States and the 4 Visegrad countries, but also Spain and the United Kingdom. " We are ready to welcome these people Latvian Prime Minister Laimdota Straujuma told me, " but voluntarily ". The others, a dozen also, were ready to accept a mandatory system but were discussing how to calculate the distribution key. This was the position of France in particular. Between the two, Greece and Italy, found the figure of 40.000 to be quite low. They were backed by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.

One of the hardest tips

« Some Member States were very afraid of being confronted with something new. (For the) relocation is entirely new. It's revolutionary indicated the President of the European Council, the Polish Donald Tusk. " The discussion was hard, frank, honest. This is one of the hardest Councils I have attended ". A slightly exaggerated statement because difficult discussions, there have been some at European level. But this one was undoubtedly marked by a lot of emotion. " Alongside this, the intervention of the British Prime Minister on a possible exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union, appeared as an interlude salutary, quipped a diplomat. The 'British truce' did not last more than 10 minutes, during dinner. And the 28 then returned to the hot issue of the moment.

With Italy and Greece, solidarity is not that

« This is not the Europe we imagined in 1957 in Rome denounced Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. " For some countries, there is a desire to show solidarity when it suits them and only when it suits them added the Belgian Prime Minister, Charles Michel, who does not however pass especially for a leftist. " Yesterday's decision was distressing was a meeting for nothing. We have made little progress. (...) Solidarity works one way and never the other. It is a problem because immigration is a major problem and will remain so. There is a lack of ambition and will. » Conversely, the head of the Czech government Bohuslav Sobotka boasted of having succeeded in getting in the way of the project presented by the Commission. " We have won a great battle, with success, because we have succeeded in maintaining a voluntary approach allowing each Member State to come up with its suggestions”, he said, according to the CTK agency.

Details for July

Finally, a compromise was reached: an effort will be made by “all” EU Member States without being obliged to reach a precise figure but without mentioning the word “volunteers” to the system all the same. The 28 will meet again in July to refine the details. For Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, "theessential is to have an agreement. It doesn't matter the model, as long as we arrive at the result ". The Luxembourger wanted to play down the tensions. " This is the first time in Europe that we have decided together with the Member States on an operation of this type. The different arguments collided ».

A discussion about skills

However, he indicated that the Commission had no intention of withdrawing its legislative proposal from the table of ministers. This was 'another' point of contention between member states. Some deny that the European executive has the power to make this proposal, considering the legal basis unfounded. They especially fear the 'precedent' which could lead, in the event of a similar event in the future, to an identical decision.

No figure for France

On the French side, we are satisfied with a system that does not impose a precise figure but " organize solidarity as one diplomat put it. On the side of the Elysée, we thus refuse to indicate any figure that France could welcome in addition. But a man well connected in the circles of power admitted that the figure proposed by the Commission (9000), could " be an indicative number ". 9000 asylum seekers in 2 years… It's still not huge.

(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)

Long version of a paper published in Ouest-France on Saturday