“Failed Policy”: Brussels Migration Pact Faces Fierce Opposition

Brussels says the Pact will strengthen Europe’s borders. Opponents argue it simply repackages the same migration model that has already failed.

You may also like

Photo by Guillaume Périgois on Unsplash

Brussels says the Pact will strengthen Europe’s borders. Opponents argue it simply repackages the same migration model that has already failed.

Brussels’ Pact on Migration and Asylum is supposed to come into force in just under a month’s time, on June 12th. Yet many political forces across Europe are still unconvinced that it will help to ease national migrational pressures, with some saying it will make matters worse.

The Pact was born with the declared intention of strengthening control. In reality, it will introduce administrative changes, while leaving the foundations of the model largely untouched.

Hungarian MEP András László on Tuesday said the Pact simply amounts to Europe “doubling down on a failed migration policy,” adding that quotas and relocation mechanisms are not the answer. Instead, “fixing the migration policy is not difficult and can be done in three steps.”

– Defend the borders and stop illegal entry.

– Close legal loopholes, defund pro-immigration NGOs.

– Remove those who are already here illegally and remove non-EU citizens who commit a crime. Use trade sanctions against countries that refuse to cooperate on returns.

László’s group in the European Parliament, the Patriots, has long opposed the Pact, arguing that the Commission is using it to force EU states to “capitulate” to mass immigration.

The European Conservatives and Reformists group also insists that the programme “would not solve the underlying issue but rather abolish most of the national prerogatives on this policy area.”

Under former prime minister Viktor Orbán, Hungary was one of the Pact’s most staunch opponents. But Budapest’s new administration is sounding more sympathetic to the Commission’s approach, despite the fact its members were critical of it before the election.

Brussels insists that the Pact coming into force in June “is not the end of the process.” After this, the Commission says, countries will still need to keep working to put the Pact fully into practice.

Michael Curzon is a news writer for europeanconservative.com based in England’s Midlands. He is also Editor of Bournbrook Magazine, which he founded in 2019, and previously wrote for London’s Express Online. His Twitter handle is @MichaelCurzon_.

Leave a Reply

Our community starts with you

Subscribe to any plan available in our store to comment, connect and be part of the conversation!