The European Economic and Social Committee has welcomed the new Migration and Asylum Pact but says that proposals will be hard to implement and cannot be called a clear step towards a resilient and forward-looking common EU strategy on migration and asylum.

In two opinions, in which it analyses several proposals for regulations governing asylum management and asylum procedures, the EESC states that the new pact might not be able to ensure the fair and efficient processing of asylum applications.

On the contrary, the burden of responsibility and inconvenience for the countries of first entry will only increase, since the proposed solidarity mechanism, which is supposed to regulate the control of migration flows at borders, is based on a hypothetical, voluntary system of solidarity.

This means that under the mechanism, Member States will be able to choose whether they wish to participate in the relocation or sponsored return of persons in an irregular situation. However, no mention is made of incentives to encourage countries to take part, or of clear-cut criteria for how much each country should contribute.

Coupled with the Pact's new pre-screening and border control proposals, which are likely to result in complex and lengthy procedures at the EU's external borders, the mechanism may lead to the transformation of first-entry countries into large pre-departure or detention centres, increasing the chances of human rights breaches and of pressure on host communities.

"We are pleased that the regulations proposed in the Pact invoke the principles of solidarity and fair sharing of responsibility, but the solidarity obligations of the states of first entry are disproportionate," says rapporteur of the opinion on asylum management, Dimitris Dimitriadis.

Panagiotis Gkofas, rapporteur for the opinion on asylum procedures, fears that the proposed regulations will ultimately place a huge burden on the Member States of southern Europe: "They will end up being de facto forced to reject many asylum applications, even those that meet the conditions for asylum to be granted, in order to avoid increasing numbers of people being held together in inhumane conditions."

"The inevitable consequence will be that the regulations will be inapplicable and will fail to achieve their intended result," he concluded. (ll)