EU member states and the EU Parliament have agreed to significantly stricter asylum procedures in a major reform of the European asylum system.
The painstakingly negotiated compromise announced on Wednesday provides for numerous additions and tightening of the existing rules to reduce irregular migration to the European Union.
European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said Wednesday “will go down in history as the day the EU reached a landmark agreement on a new set of rules to manage migration and asylum.”
The reform has been the subject of intensive work since 2015, when record numbers of migrants arrived in the EU.
While countries with right-wing governments, like Hungary, were strongly in favour of tightening existing rules, aid organizations and Europe’s political left expressed concerns about the degradation of human rights.
The reform “will ensure that there is an effective European response to this European challenge,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
“It means that Europeans will decide who comes to the EU and who can stay, not the smugglers,” she added.
Kept in reception houses.
The reform for example foresees a much stricter handling of people from countries that are considered relatively safe.
Until a legal decision is made on their asylum application, asylum seekers are to be housed in reception centres under strict rules.
While the European People’s Party, which includes the conservative political groups in the European Parliament, hailed the agreement as a “historic deal,” left-leaning EU lawmakers were quick to criticise it.
