Opinion
Europe’s new toughness
Asylum pact: The Social Democrats are betraying their values
Refugee boat off the Canary Islands: Europe’s new hardship
© Javier Bauluz / DPA
The conservatives are triumphant: They have prevailed across the board when it comes to the new asylum rules for Europe. The Social Democrats capitulate – out of fear of extremists.
It doesn’t happen that often that Commission President Ursula von der Leyen speaks out immediately after a vote EU Parliament provides the press. Wednesday was such a day. It was about the migration pact, ten laws, eight years in the making, which MEPs voted on yesterday. And lo and behold: the majority of them spoke out in favor of stricter asylum rules.
The vote was a reason to celebrate, especially for the Christian Democrats. In its election manifesto, the European People’s Party (EPP) is calling for even stricter measures than the pact now envisages. There is talk of reception centers outside the EU borders based on the United Kingdom’s controversial Rwanda model. Seriously?
The speech by the responsible commissioner, Margaritas Schinas, in particular showed what it was all about. He gave a regular campaign speech, not a plenary speech. “We will be able to show everyone that the EU can deliver on the issues that matter to people. This is what voters should keep in mind when they go to the polls in June.” It’s not hard to guess who the ‘we’ in his statement is. The team here is not called Europe or the EU Commission. The team is called EVP.
The fear of the shift to the right
It is particularly the fear of a shift to the right that drove most parliamentarians to vote for the migration pact. No one embodied this fear better than the Social Democrats. The SPD’s migration policy spokeswoman, Birgit Sippel, admitted that it was not a very good package to vote on. And even expressed doubts as to whether all elements of the migration pact were compatible with applicable law. And yet she spoke out in favor of the pact. Not out of conviction. But because of the lack of alternatives. The pact at least offers the EU member states a uniform framework for dealing with migrants. No more ad hoc solutions. This premise seemed good enough for most Social Democrats to agree to the dangerous compromise.
The migration pact, which is made up of a mosaic of ten laws, hardly brings any new approaches to dealing with flight and migration. On the contrary. Rules that already apply now will mainly be further tightened. There are, for example, accelerated asylum procedures at the external borders, which allow member states to quickly deport those seeking protection back to transit and origin countries. Even families with children are said to be held in such centers. What is not said: Such centers already exist today. Just think of the refugee camp in Moira, which was almost completely destroyed by a fire in 2020, where those seeking protection lived in such poor conditions that the head of the EU Commission promised that such camps would no longer exist in the future.
Other elements of the pact simply continue existing rules, whether they work or not. For example, there has always been a commitment to faster returns or increased deals with third countries. But as long as third countries continue to be faced with a fait accompli and act not as partners but as service providers, the good intentions will not bear any better under the new pact.
Ultimately, the pact legalizes measures that are already being implemented today, even if there is no legal basis for them: such as the controversial crisis regulation, under which current asylum laws are simply suspended in the event of “instrumentalization” of migrants. This has already happened as part of the EU-Turkey deal or during the Covid pandemic. Member states have repeatedly suspended current asylum rights in recent years. And the EU Commission looked the other way.
People choose the original – not the copy
Adopting the discourse of the right in order to win over their voters has been the Christian Democrats’ imperative for years when dealing with the growing right-wing populists. In the case of migration, liberals and social democrats are now joining in. The motto has not been successful so far. Voters usually do not support the copy, but the original.
In yesterday’s vote, however, the increasingly restrictive policies against migrants were concealed. EPP representative Thomas Tobé said they would “finally put an end to smugglers.” The discourse seems hollowed out in view of rules that in many cases restrict the basic rights of those seeking protection.
But now the EPP can go before the voters and say: The EU has done it, we will keep migrants at bay, relieve the burden on municipalities and protect Fortress Europe. And the Social Democrats? Out of fear of the right, they turn away from the values they stand for: solidarity. Freedom. Equality. It is questionable which voters they want to win with this.