THE STATE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION. Reforming Europe in a time of war

THE STATE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION 52 10,000 people relocated every year, until a more per- manent system can be established. For the time being, according to EU diplomatic sources, Germany has com- mitted to receiving 3,500 people, France 3,000 people and Portugal and Ireland 350 people each. The govern- ment of Luxemburg committed to relocating migrants but has yet to provide any figures. Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Malta and Spain have super-imposed relocation on their agreement regarding other aspects of EU asylum reforms (security, external borders, etc.). In turn, the Council adopted a general approach to the Schengen Code, and so continues its negotiations with the European Parliament. The Parliament has also adopted its own position on the topic, in other words, the positions of both parties have remained fixed. The content of the internal border system reform points to- wards the following main aspects: 1. The fight against instrumentalization of migratory flows; 2, Management of external borders in the case of health crises, 3. Reintro- duction of internal controls and promotion of alternative measures. Regarding the fight against instrumentaliza- tion of migrants, the general focus highlights that the affected States can take measures to limit entry and pre- serve security in their own territory, that might include building fences along their borders, as one example. Each State can choose to undertake this construction, in fact, some Member States have already decided to do it. From 1 July onwards, France passed the baton on to the Czech Republic, which took over the EU Council Presidency for the next six months. Among its achieve- ments, France has called for a political direction to be taken with the “Schengen Council”, better management of our borders with revision of the Schengen Borders Code and improved management of migratory flows towards Europe. In this context and following the invasion of Ukraine, negotiations were interrupted in the light of the largest exodus of refugees since World War Two. The response from the European Commission was immediate. On 2 March 2022, the European Commission proposed to activate the Temporary Protection Directive to offer fast, effective assistance to persons fleeing the war in Ukraine. The Commission also presented operat- ing directives to help national border guards effectively manage arrivals at Ukrainian borders. On 3 March 2022, the EU ministers (Council of Justice and Home Affairs) unanimously agreed to establish a temporary protection mechanism in response to the large number of displaced persons from Ukraine. Execution Decision (EU) 2022/382 of the Council, on 4 March 2022, established the existence of a mas- sive affluence of displaced persons from Ukraine as a consequence of an armed conflict in the sense of article 5 of the Temporary Protection Directive (TPD - Directive 2001/55/CE) and with the effect of introducing tempo- rary protection. Subsequently, the European Commission published operating directives to help Member States apply the Temporary Protection Directive on 21 March. It particu- larly emphasised minors, the need to immediately desig- nate a legal tutor or representatives for unaccompanied children and teenagers, guarantee free circulation and help repatriate anyone who does not have the right to remain in the EU. In turn, on 23 March 2022, the European Com- mission (EC) published a report containing a series of measures to help Member States cover the needs of peo- ple who are fleeing, protect children, provide access to education, access to healthcare, access to employment and access to accommodation and housing. A Solidar- ity Platform was also set up to bring together Member States and EU agencies to coordinate support for any Member States that require it. An extraordinary meeting of the EU Home Affairs Council was held o n 28 March 2022, The EC presented a 10-point Action Plan to coordinate people throughout the EU who were fleeing Ukraine: setting up a Europe- an platform for registration, European transport coor- dination measures, support to improve Member States’ reception capacity, developing contingency plans for medium-long term reception, creation of common solu- tions to protect children, approval of a plan to detect