In the latest attempt to forge a cohesive response to the refugee crisis, EU leaders gathered in Brussels yesterday for a two-day summit.
The issue, which has dominated the European Union agenda, has seen the EU struggle to find a united voice on the biggest influx of refugees on to the continent since the foundation of the union.
At a broad policy level, the last few months have seen a definitive shift in the EU's position: from the so-called open doors policy promulgated by German chancellor Angela Merkel at the peak of the crisis in late summer, to an emphasis on border control and the registering of refugees.
This change in direction was given further momentum by the Paris terrorist attacks and the revelation that some of the assassins had travelled into Europe undetected.
European Council president Donald Tusk made clear on his way into yesterday's meeting that border management would continue to be the EU's primary focus.
“As I have emphasised for many months, in fact from the very beginning of the migration crisis, there is no good alternative to border protection,” Tusk said. He welcomed the European Commission’s unveiling of a European Border and Coast Guard earlier this week.
Tusk is one of a number of senior EU figures who have become increasingly frustrated by Greece’s efforts to police its borders.
The message to Greece now seems to be that, if it cannot manage its own borders, Europe will do it for them – a development that raises the prospect of an EU border guard being deployed to patrol national borders even if a country opposes it.
EU leaders last night broadly endorsed the new coast guard plan, but the question now remains whether it will actually be implemented, or languish as a conceptual idea used to ensure that Greece complies with its border duties.
Credible measures
The EU has a growing credibility problem in relation to the migration crisis. Despite the numerous emergency summits and justice and home affairs meetings since the summer, many of the measures agreed have not been implemented.
Of most concern is the status of a much-feted refugee relocation plan that was finally agreed in September, despite resistance from central and eastern European countries. To date, only 160 of the 140,000 refugees identified by the scheme have been relocated.
Little commitment
The
European Commission
has blamed member states’ lack of commitment to the scheme; countries such as
Hungary
and
Poland
were signalling resistance to the initiative almost as soon as it was agreed.
However, some countries, including Ireland, have voiced frustration that they are ready to receive their allocation of refugees but that the system has become log-jammed.
In addition to the delay in establishing the EU’s “hotspot” reception centres at key entry points, there is also a communication challenge in convincing some migrants to travel to their assigned country. Others fear that if they board a plane they will be deported.
Similarly, the EU-Turkey Action Plan and a direct resettlement programme to relocate Syrian refugees from Turkey being championed by Germany, appears to have run into difficulty.
A pre-summit meeting, organised by Austria and a core group of EU countries with the Turkish prime minister yesterday to discuss the proposed resettlement plan, yielded little in terms of tangible results.
A paper circulated yesterday by the Luxembourg presidency of the EU to leaders showed only a small reduction in the numbers arriving from Turkey since the November 29th summit. This has raised concerns about Turkey's readiness to curb the flow of refugees entering the EU, the bloc's key demand in the recent talks.
Illegal reductions
Merkel said talks would continue with Turkey about how to “strongly and significantly reduce” illegal migration, while she stressed that the proposal for the direct resettlement scheme was open to all countries.
As the EU once again pledges to actively deal with the refugee crisis and follow through with commitments, the political ramifications will continue to be felt into next year.
The strong rise in support for the far right in France, the election of a more openly Eurosceptic government in Poland, and the pressure on Sweden's ruling centre-left coalition government are all, in part, a reaction to the refugee crisis.
The pressure will likely remain on the European Union to present a comprehensive and workable response to the thousands of migrants continuing to arrive on Europe’s shores.