THE STATE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION REPORT. Europe in a period of transition

105 New European pact on migration and asylum Paloma Favieres In July 2019, the President of the European Com- mission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced a New Pact on Migration and Asylum to the European Parliament, designed to establish “strong borders for the Europe- an Union, a fresh start for migration policy, offering asylum to those who need international protection,” reforming the European Asylum System, bearing in mind the values of solidarity and responsibility, and a vision of immigration that combines humanity and efficiency. On 23 September 2020, the European Commission presented the Pact on Migration and Asylum. Both the President of the European Commission and Commission- er Johansson defined this new proposal as a “fresh start” for the EU’s migration and asylum policy. The European Commission’s New Pact on Migration and Asylum built on earlier proposals, seeking to reach agreement in on- going negotiations while also proposing new elements designed to solve other problems. Despite the hopes raised by von der Leyen’s speech, the text proposed by the Commission, which is to be debated in the European Parliament and by the Council, retains the core of existing EU policies and, indeed, ex- tends restrictions on rights in areas such as returns, on which it places excessive emphasis, or the externalisa- tion of border control, with the EU–Turkey deal of March 2016 as a paradigm. The New Pact on Migration and Asylum paints an even gloomier outlook for international protection in the EU. The objectives and priorities of the pact are described below. 1. A common framework to manage migration and asylum The need to establish a new border procedure – a new pre-entry screening mechanism – to be applied to all nationals of third countries who cross the external border without authorisation. Includes identity, health and secu- rity checks, fingerprinting and registration in the Eurodac database. The establishment of accelerated border procedures is one of the most controversial aspects of the pact, while rules on asylum and return procedures will be included in a single instrument. The aim is to ensure the speedy examination of applications with little chance of success, without permitting applicants to enter EU territory.There will be a return procedure for people who do not request international protection and for those who are denied it. To ensure that all guarantees are respected, including the principle of “non-refoulement”, a monitoring mechanism will be established under the oversight of the European Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA). The Pact proposes a joint framework for solidarity and and shared responsibility which replaces the 2016 proposed reform of the Dublin Regulation with a reg- ulation on the management of asylum and migration.