EU leaders will attempt to forge a long-term strategy to handle the refugee crisis at an emergency summit in Brussels today, after justice ministers backed a contentious relocation plan for refugees by resorting to a rarely used majority voting system.
While the European Union typically reaches decisions by consensus, EU justice ministers agreed to a reworked version of the European Commission's relocation plan for refugees by passing the package through a majority vote.
The leaders of Slovakia, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Romania – the four countries which voted against the commission’s relocation scheme on Tuesday – will face their European counterparts today amid continuing divisions on how to handle the refugee crisis.
Viktor Orban, the Hungarian prime minister whose response to the crisis has been sharply criticised by senior EU figures, is expected to face EU leaders from the centre-right European People's Party, including Taoiseach Enda Kenny and German chancellor Angela Merkel, at a meeting ahead of the summit.
Long-term measures
Leaders are expected to ratify the agreement on a relocation plan for refugees reached by justice ministers, but their focus will be on long-term measures to tackle the crisis, including greater cooperation with so-called “countries of origin”.
The status of Schengen (the EU’s passport-free travel zone) is also expected to be raised.
In a letter to leaders ahead of the summit, Donald Tusk, the head of the European Council, admitted that Europe is "currently not able to manage [our] common external borders". He called on member states to work collectively to find solutions to a crisis that has divided countries.
Following visits to Egypt and Jordan last weekend, Mr Tusk has shifted the focus of the EU debate towards tackling the root causes of migration.
British prime minister David Cameron, who is expected to hold talks on Britain’s renegotiation of its relationship with the EU on the sidelines of the summit, will urge EU member states to do more to support refugees in countries bordering Syria and other conflict zones.
Losing the reins
Dr Merkel said leaders meeting in Brussels today “must do everything” to end the exodus from refugee camps towards Europe. But a senior Bavarian ally let fly at the chancellor yesterday, accusing her of “losing the reins” by setting aside EU migration rules to accept Syrian refugees into Germany.
Germany had consistently opposed the prospect of imposing refugee quotas through a qualified majority vote. It has also consistently urged countries to share the burden of the thousands of refugees entering the bloc.
Senior German officials rejected suggestions that Berlin had catalysed the crisis by unilaterally deciding to effectively suspend the Dublin agreement by accepting Syrian refugees who had not registered in the first EU country of arrival.
“We are not of the opinion that we exacerbated the problem,” said the official. “Most of these people were already on the road.”
Speaking in Brussels, Germany’s interior minister, Thomas de Maiziere, said that more fundamental solutions were needed for the crisis, despite the agreement to relocate refugees arriving in Italy and Greece.
“It’s not just a matter of relocating 120,000 people in need of help,” said. “We need more fundamental solutions.”
