Europe’s failure to sufficiently implement principles of solidarity and responsibility sharing on migration represents a “manifest breach” of EU law, according to a legal expert.
Professor Philippe De Bruycker, founder of the Odysseus Academic Network for Legal Studies on Immigration and Asylum, said that under EU law, solidarity was not just a political or moral duty but an explicit legal principle.
“There has not been enough implementation of the law on that point. We acknowledge that the law allows for some discretion, but here the case is so clear that we consider from a legal point of view that there is a manifest breach.”
Prof De Bruycker was speaking yesterday during a debate at the European Parliament on a strategic report on migration currently under discussion in the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs. The report is being drafted by Maltese MEP Roberta Metsola and Italian MEP Kashetu Kyenge.
There has not been enough implementation of the law
Prof De Bruycker referred to Article 80 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, which states that EU policy on migration and asylum “shall be governed by the principle of solidarity and fair sharing of responsibility, including its financial implications, between the Member States”.
He acknowledged that the law could not oblige all member states to take in asylum seekers but said solidarity could still be ensured through a financial mechanism such as a monetary fund to be redistributed according to need.
Meanwhile, Dr Metsola expressed scepticism over whether all member states would fulfil the commitments agreed during last month’s emergency summit.
“I do get concerned when I read media reports that the extra funds that were promised are still reportedly caught up in bureaucratic processes,” she said.
“I hope I am wrong and we will keep up the pressure for obligations to be met.”
Dr Metsola called for a binding solidarity mechanism allowing for the fair distribution of asylum seekers among member states once a certain threshold had been reached.
“The status quo is simply unacceptable and ignores the reality faced in the Mediterranean, and I hope that the Commission’s new policy on migration has the courage to address this issue head on,” she said.
Also speaking during the debate, Brigadier Martin Xuereb, director of the Migrant Offshore Aid Station (Moas), said it was important to depoliticise migrant rescues and put the emphasis on saving lives at sea.
He also highlighted the need for a more encompassing approach to the execution of rescue operations, pointing to Moas’s use of high-end technology and its new partnership with Doctors without Borders.
This had resulted in a fully-equipped clinic on board the Moas rescue vessel, “allowing us to address the needs of the people we save right from the start”.