Granada, Spain, Oct 6 (EFE).- The opposition of Poland and Hungary to the European Union pact on migration and asylum prevented the informal summit in Granada on Friday from approving a final declaration supported by all member states.
However, the leaders of the 27 member states approved a joint statement on the other issues addressed at the informal summit, and the president of the European Council, Charles Michel, published his text on migration and asylum, according to EU sources.
The 27 leaders addressed issues such as the enlargement of the Community club with the future accession of new member states.
The debate on migration in Granada took place after the EU countries reached an agreement on Wednesday on the Crisis Regulation, which establishes the rules to be followed in emergencies such as massive flows of migrants and is one of the critical components of the European Pact on Migration and Asylum.
This was the last piece of the European Pact on Migration and Asylum that had yet to be agreed upon by the states, bringing to a close the reform that the EU began preparing four years ago.
The unanimity of all countries was optional to move forward with the agreement. Poland and Hungary voted against it and have criticized in recent months that decisions on migration between EU countries are taken by a qualified majority rather than unanimously.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán criticized on Friday in Granada that the European Union had “violated” and “forced” Hungary and Poland to accept the recent agreements on the Migration and Asylum Pact since they were approved without their consent.
After the countries’ approval and negotiations with the European Parliament, the EU’s co-legislator and member states will be necessary to reach a final agreement on the migration legislative package to be ratified and enacted.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki also said he was “categorically” opposed to the agreement reached in Brussels this week on the distribution of migrants in times of crisis, which he described as a “dictate” from the European Commission and Germany.
On Thursday, at a meeting on the sidelines of the European Political Community summit in Granada, the United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands, France, Albania, and the European Commission agreed on an eight-point plan to cooperate against irregular immigration and the gangs that promote human trafficking, including the intent to “arrest all vessels involved” in the illegal transportation of migrants. EFE
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