180 degree turn in Berlin's position regarding the last pending agreement of the European Migration Pact. Germany has given in to pressure and the Minister of the Interior, Nancy Faeser, announced today in Brussels that her Government will support the compromise text negotiated by the Spanish presidency of the Council on the crisis management regulation, one of the most sensitive elements of the new architecture of the asylum system in the European Union. "We will assume our responsibilities and accept the compromise brilliantly negotiated by Spain," said the minister, hours after the German press reported that the chancellor, Olaf Scholz, had instructed her to stop blocking the agreement.
Just 12 hours ago, the Spanish presidency of the Council ruled out that it was possible to reach an agreement today and the matter was not included for adoption on the Council's agenda, but Germany's change of position has turned the negotiations upside down. During the public debate on the Migration Pact, Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska, acting president of the EU Council of Interior Ministers, concluded that there is an "unquestionable majority" in favor of the latest version of the document and announced that The matter will be referred to the ambassadors to "explore the mandate to be able to negotiate with the European Parliament."
Council sources warn, however, that "at this moment it would be premature to say that there is a majority" in favor of the proposal, thus lowering the expectations of an immediate agreement launched by the Spanish delegation this afternoon. Although the Netherlands also now joins the consensus, it is not clear that Italy maintains its support for the text and, without its votes, there would still be no majority to establish a common position of the Twenty-seven. Rome's reservations, however, do not concern "matters of substance," diplomatic sources say.
The German turn is in any case crucial to unlocking the dossier. The abstention of the German delegation in the tentative internal vote held in July on this regulation prevented the Spanish presidency from gathering the necessary majority to establish a common position with which to subsequently negotiate with the European Parliament. Berlin had made it known in the last few hours that it did not feel comfortable with being blamed for the European blockade, all this at the same time that it decided to intensify controls on its borders with Poland and the Czech Republic.
In this context - and in parallel to the calls of the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and Pedro Sánchez, representing the Spanish presidency of the Council -, the Foreign Ministry has decided to accept the agreement based on some modifications aimed at better ensure the protection of human rights even in emergency situations. "We would like there to be something for families and minors as well," but "we have to assume our responsibility," explains Faeser.
Germany trusts that negotiations with the European Parliament will allow the text to be improved in this regard. Although, at present, inter-institutional contacts are blocked by decision of MEPs as a measure of pressure, an agreement on the crisis management regulation would allow the process to be restarted. The latest version of the compromise text negotiated by Spain gives countries options to finance the reception of refugees in the event of a crisis or their deportation to their countries of origin, instead of accepting relocations.
