Von der Leyen will bring the creation of irregular migrant deportation centers outside the EU to the leaders’ summit

Asks to draw “lessons” from Meloni’s agreement with Albania to transfer migrants

BRUSSELS, Oct. 15 () –

The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, believes that the European Union should “explore possible avenues” for the creation of deportation centers for irregular migrants outside the community territory while their cases are resolved in the Union, a solution that will take to the summit of EU leaders this Thursday in Brussels and which follows the line set out in a letter from 14 countries of the bloc, among which was not Spain but France, Italy and Germany, asking to accelerate the expulsions.

In the letter circulated in the capitals and collected by Europa Press, Von der Leyen asks the European heads of state and government to “continue exploring possible ways forward” towards the “idea of ​​creating return centers outside the European Union.”

The head of the Community Executive, who will begin her second term in December, reminds the 27 that she will have a specific commissioner for the Mediterranean in her new College, to whom she plans to entrust a proposal to reform the return directive, the review of which was already planned. in this legislature but whose negotiation did not start between the Council and the European Parliament.

In this context, Von der Leyen opens up to solutions that she defines as “innovative” to move towards the creation of deportation centers to transfer irregular migrants who have already arrived on European soil outside the EU, while their files are processed; despite the fact that this option was already ruled out in the past by Brussels for colliding with the rights of asylum seekers.

Now, Von der Leyen evokes as an example in her letter to EU leaders the agreement negotiated by the Italian Government of Giorgia Meloni with Albania to open centers in this country to transfer migrants who have already requested asylum in Italy while they are They process your requests. “With the start of protocol operations between Italy and Albania we will be able to draw lessons from this practical experience,” says the President of the Commission.

In any case, the German conservative also points out that to advance in this area, her Executive will also address throughout “next year” the review of the definition of a “safe third country”, an issue that is also controversial due to the divisions it generates. within the 27 but that Von der Leyen sees necessary to “help those seeking asylum without having to embark on dangerous journeys across the Mediterranean.”

This reflection, he defends, will be carried out hand in hand with international organizations such as the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) with the aim of achieving a “comprehensive approach” to the concept.

SANCTIONS ON COUNTRIES THAT DO NOT COLLABORATE

In addition to this point, Von der Leyen points out other keys that in her opinion should mark the Union’s migration agenda, including accelerating the application of parts of the Migration and Asylum Pact; a reform closed ‘in extremis’ at the end of this legislature and whose entry into force is scheduled for 2026.

It also defends agreements with “key partners” such as Egypt, Morocco and Algeria and pacts with countries such as Tunisia and Libya, with which Brussels has closed aid plans in exchange for containing migratory flows.

It also defends that, in addition to intensifying cooperation with third parties, the 27 must advance in the use of other measures to punish those third countries of origin or transit that make returns difficult, for example by restricting the visa policy as has already been done or resorting to trade sanctions.

“The EU should be willing to use as a lever not only the visa policy but also other areas such as trade,” Von der Leyen asks in the letter, in which she specifically points out the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) that offers access non-reciprocal tariff-free tariff on products originating from developing countries.

These issues already reached last week at a meeting of EU Interior Ministers held in Luxembourg, where at a closed-door lunch they addressed the possibility of deportation centers in third countries as an option to expedite expulsions.

As a starting point for the discussion, the ministers received a working document prepared by the rotating presidency of Hungary this semester and which advocated reflecting on “legally, operationally and diplomatically sound” solutions that would allow migrants to be sent to a country. “safe” third party while his final expulsion is resolved or until he agrees to return on a “voluntary” basis.

Another idea that the Hungarian presidency puts on the table is greater firmness and speed in the expulsions of people who have been convicted of a crime or are considered a “threat to security.”

Furthermore, it calls for improving the application of “valid” instruments that the European Union already has, such as the possibility of punishing countries of origin or transit that do not cooperate adequately in return programs, for example by tightening the visa policy as already does with Gambia and Ethiopia.

This first discussion was the result of the impulse of a block of 14 countries of the European Union (with Austria, the Netherlands, France, Germany and Italy among them) who have requested in another document a reform of the return directive to have a new legal framework that “facilitates and accelerates” expulsions. Norway, Sweden and Liechtenstein, which are not members of the EU but are members of the borderless Schengen area, also sign the position.

The letter asks the Community Executive to review its own proposal for a “paradigm change” in the returns process that limits the “responsibilities” of the migrant who arrives irregularly to the European Union, so that their “rights and rights” are clear. obligations” so that if there is a lack of cooperation he faces “consequences and is sanctioned.