(Adds PL statement)
A set of amendments dealing with asylum, including changes to the Dublin regulation and the setting up of a legally binding burden-sharing mechanism enabling the reallocation of immigrants among EU countries have been adopted by the European Parliament. (The amendments still have to be approved by national governments)
Nationalist MEP Simon Busuttil said the changes to the Dublin regulation, by far the most important for Malta, were approved with 398 votes in favour, 56 votes against and 65 abstentions.
Welcoming the vote, he said that the European Parliament had delivered what Malta wanted.
“The European Parliament has delivered. Five years ago no one here knew anything about Malta’s plight on immigration. Today the European Parliament is fully behind us. This is not a coincidence. It is the result of hard work.” he said.
The Dublin regulation is controversial in Malta because it placd the responsibility for immigrants squarely on the EU country in which they first enter. This meant that migrants first arriving in Malta become Malta’s responsibility and if they moved and were apprehended in other EU countries, they were transferred back to Malta.
Malta had long called for a change in these rules and changes to the Dublin regulation were formally proposed by the European Commission last December.
The Commission proposed to suspend the Dublin rules on EU countries, such as Malta, which faced a disproportionate burden as a result of their geographic and demographic situation.
In its vote today, the European Parliament adopted this proposal.
Dr Busuttil said that apart from agreeing to suspend Dublin rules, the EP also resolved that it was essential to propose legally binding instruments to ensure greater solidarity between member states through the resettlement of the beneficiaries of international protection in other member states.
He said today’s vote was very important because the EP shared co-decision powers with Council on this law and therefore its consent was required and its views could not be ignored by the Council.
“I know that what we have adopted today is resisted by some countries in Council. But it is time for them to realise that they can no longer expect just a couple of countries to shoulder a responsibility that belongs to all. They can no longer express shock when boatfuls of immigrants drift at sea but then turn a blind eye when it comes to hosting the immigrants who are saved. The time for hypocrisy is over. I am very satisfied with this vote because it is the result of years of hard work. We have been there for Malta and we have delivered," he said.
In a statement, the PL said welcomed the vote in the EP saying that it had been for obbligatory burden sharing since the very beginning. The vote proved how right Labour leader Joseph Muscat had been when he called on the Maltese government not to sign the Immigration Pact last October. This had not bound any country to take immigrants off Malta.
The PL said that the Immigration Agency proposal had originally come from a Labour MEP. The proposal was voted against by around 22 MEPs - nearly half those who voted against, were from the EPP, of which the PN MEPs were members. All the Socialists voted in favour of the agency.
Three years ago the proposal had not been approved by the EP because members of the EPP had voted against. Dr Busuttil and the other Nationalist MEP David Casa had, at the time, not voted in favour of Labour's proposal.