EPIM Policy Update December 2017

EPIM Policy Updates are developed as a resource for organisations interested in European policy developments in the area of migration and integration. The European Policy Centre (EPC), a Brussels-based think tank, has been commissioned to produce these Policy Updates, which are released five times a year.

EPIM Policy Updates address topics relevant to EPIM’s Thematic Funds: Immigration Detention; Reforming the Common European Asylum System; Children and Youth on the Move; Mobile EU Citizens’ Access to Rights; and Building Inclusive European Societies.

This edition’s special focus is dedicated to the reforms proposed by the Slovakian Presidency of the Council of the EU. Slovakia presented an informal proposal to reform the Dublin Regulation ahead of a Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting on 18 November. The new plan, envisioning an ‘effective solidarity’ mechanism to deal with high numbers of irregular arrivals to the EU, was received with reluctance by other Member States. Nevertheless, Slovakia has vowed to present a revised proposal, with Slovak Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Robert Kaliňák apparently confident that the Slovakian Presidency will be able to negotiate an alternative to mandatory relocation quotas.

Other key highlights of this Policy Update include:

• Malta’s presentation of its priorities for the Maltese Presidency of the Council of the EU;
• The Visegrad Group’s announcement of the intention to set up a migration crisis centre;
• The Council’s adoption of a ‘European travel document for returns’;
• A European Commission report on the latest relocation and resettlement numbers;
• ECRE’s analysis of the European Commission’s CEAS reform proposals;
• Turkish President Erdogan’s threat to end the EU-Turkey deal;
• EU funding opportunities under the ‘Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme’;
• A closer look at the dismantling of the protection space for refugees in Hungary by the Hungarian Helsinki Committee.