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

THE STATE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION 110 Commission is concerned, and voluntary as regards relocation. − While we welcome the recognition of the specificity of disembarkations after search and rescue opera- tions, we must guarantee effective European solida- rity with regard to all migrants and asylum seekers irrespective of the way they have reached EU terri- tory, having in mind the need for an automatic and mandatory relocation mechanism to be put in place. − The already disadvantageous situation of the front- line Member states will be further aggravated due to the proposed screening Regulation and the man- datory character of the projected border, asylum and return procedures. We believe that solutions based on the fictio juris assumption that asylum seekers have not entered the EU until the completion of the process, disregard realities on the ground in terms of procedures and timelines proposed and place dis- proportionate burden at the borders of the EU which cannot be transformed into closed transit zones. For its part, in June the European Commission pre- sented a new strategy to make the world’s largest free movement zone – the Schengen space – stronger and more resilient. For the Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, the Schengen strategy will entail strong- er external controls in order to enable greater internal freedom. Modern IT systems will improve the manage- ment of external borders, while greater police coopera- tion and shared management of migration will help to strengthen a Schengen space without border controls. The strategy’s objectives include ensuring effective management of the EU’s external borders through the ongoing deployment of Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, urging co-legislators to rapidly adopt the proposed new pact on migration and asylum with respect to the control of people who cross with- out authorisation. Once again, it appeals to a revised evaluation mechanism to increase shared confidence in the application of the Schengen rules and ensure that deficiencies are detected and corrected promptly. The strategy alludes to the New Pact on Migration and Asylum and, following its approval, to the establish- ment of a common approach to migration management, a key element for the good operation of the Schengen space. On 9 June, the first in-person meeting of the Coun- cil of Ministers of Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) since March 2020 was held in Luxembourg.The Spanish Home Affairs Minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, asked his European counterparts to “prioritise the external dimen- sion of their migration policy” based on cooperation with the countries of origin and transit of migration to prevent departures and avoid the loss of life. With regard to the new Pact on Migration and Asy- lum, he argued that this does not currently offer realistic, satisfactory solutions, and stressed the need to achieve a “greater level of clarity and firmness” in cooperation and prevention at source. Grande-Marlaska also defend- ed the need to share responsibility for migration and to define clear, realistic rules on solidarity. All of this has once again revealed the lack of a unanimous agreement among the twenty-seven Member states – agreement which is far from being reached – and the lack of a uniform interpretation of the principle of shared solidarity and the north/south differences at the heart of the European Union.