MEPs Pass Migration Pact Despite Threats Of Rejection

The European Parliament has passed all packages of the Migration and Asylum Pactthat intends to overhaul how the EU deals with asylum applications. Despite the Pact being approved by the member states, MEPs from various political groups had threatened to reject the deal. MEPs from far-right, far-left, and centrist blocs had voiced objections on a number of provisions, either for being too strict or not strict enough, while a geographic split also risked emerging between 'recipient nations' on the Mediterranean, and countries that could end up receiving relocated migrants.

• Following the Pact's passage, Polish PM Donald Tusk has claimed that Poland will not agree to the reolocation mechanism within the pact, while Hungarian PM Viktor Orban and Danish PM Mette Frederiksen have also voiced their objections. While the passage of the Pact has been hailed by proponents as the EU finally getting to grips with the politically-thorny issue of migration, the implementation of the various directives over the coming years will determine its success.
• Immigration and asylum is likely to feature heavily in the upcoming European Parliament election campaigns in many member states ahead of the 6-9 June vote. While the Pact will not be in force by the time of the elections, proponents of the agreement in each country will likely point to its passage as a signal that the EU intends to 'get serious' on the issue, potentially tempering support for anti-immigration parties.