The idea of having a common, predictable rulebook to handle the irregular arrivals of asylum seekers has been on the table since the 2015-2016 migration crisis, which turned the issue into political dynamite and bitterly split countries into opposing camps.
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00:00Last year, around 1.2 million asylum seekers entered the EU.
00:05On Tuesday, EU member states signed into law a vast legislative package
00:10to reform the asylum process just three weeks before the elections.
00:14It seeks to ensure that all member states take in their fair share of asylum seekers.
00:19But will Viktor Orban and Donald Tusk, the leaders of Hungary and Poland, cooperate with it?
00:25They both oppose the pact, but as it only needed a qualified majority, the legislation passed.
00:32Mainstream political parties hope it will stop the far right from making big gains in the elections
00:37by calming down voters' fears about migration.
00:41But some analysts believe the pact is flawed, as it relies on the willingness of states to cooperate
00:46and take in their fair share of asylum seekers.
00:50This is, of course, problematic in the sense that under the current system,
00:55the solidarity mechanism provides for flexible but mandatory solidarity,
01:01which means that all member states are obligated to provide some form of solidarity.
01:07The risk that we see is, of course, that we end up in a situation much like the one that we see today
01:15or also in the past years, where those member states, under so-called migratory pressure,
01:20have been unable to benefit from solidarity from other member states.
01:26The legislation won't come into force until 2026, meaning the EU are still stuck with the old system,
01:32which has so divided member states.
01:34However, the European Commissioner for Home Affairs was very clear
01:38that if states fail to apply the legislation, then the Commission will act.
01:42Well, the Commission has the tools we have in all legislation, and that is that we can use infringement.
01:48But I must say again, I don't think that will happen.
01:52The contentious new rule is that states should take in their quota of asylum seekers
01:56or else pay the EU 20,000 euros for each one they turn away.