Now the EU member states have an obligation to help countries suffering from migration pressure.
On Wednesday, the EU Parliament approved the long-prepared and disputed Migration and Asylum Act reform.
The extensive immigration package stipulates, among other things, mandatory solidarity measures for those EU countries that are under special immigration pressure.
Other member states can choose whether the solidarity actions are reception of asylum seekers or financial support. Another option is to offer operational or technical support.
Before the vote, it was predicted that the passage of the package, which had been prepared for years and was politically disputed, would be difficult.
The package received criticism from both the far right and the left, albeit for different reasons.
Non-governmental organizations have also criticized the law. The human rights organization Amnesty warned that the reform will increase human suffering at Europe’s borders and the risk of human rights violations.
– What we have on our table now is not a complete solution proposal, but a compromise, described on Tuesday one of the presenters of the legal package, Slovenian MEP Matjaz Nemec from the group of social democrats.
During the vote, a protest against the law was seen in the parliament, which caused the vote to be suspended for a while.
Faster decisions and tighter control
The package includes ten legislative proposals. They include, for example, more effective border control and faster processing of asylum applications. In the future, the data of those entering the EU illegally, such as fingerprints and facial images from the age of six, will be stored in the Eurodac database.
New criteria for which country is responsible for an application for international protection are also on display. The main responsibility still remains with the country that receives the asylum application first.
The package also takes a position on current instrumented immigration on Finland’s eastern border.
The proposal regarding crisis situations wants to ensure that a member state that is subject to instrumentalized immigration receives support from other EU countries.
Finland decides on a case-by-case basis
The mandatory division of responsibilities in the Finnish government program has been regarded with reservations. Although according to the government program, the government promotes “voluntariness of burden sharing”, the current government has also been ready to accept the mechanism.
European Minister Anders Adlercreutz (r.) told STT in December that Finland decides on a case-by-case basis whether it participates in solidarity measures by accepting asylum seekers or contributing to the costs.