The EU’s Migrant and Asylum Pact, which just squeaked through the European Parliament, remains highly contentious, with some leaders pledging not to implement it at all. But, ultimately, the agreement’s provisions might be less important than the pragmatic coalition-building that got it passed.
MADRID – Amid escalating geopolitical tensions, and with European Parliament elections looming, the narrow passage earlier this month of the European Union’s Migrant and Asylum Pact has attracted relatively little attention. To be sure, the agreement is more remarkable for the mere fact of its enactment than for any of the provisions it contains. Nonetheless, it marks the culmination of a decade-long effort to reform the EU’s “Dublin system” for governing migration-related matters.
MADRID – Amid escalating geopolitical tensions, and with European Parliament elections looming, the narrow passage earlier this month of the European Union’s Migrant and Asylum Pact has attracted relatively little attention. To be sure, the agreement is more remarkable for the mere fact of its enactment than for any of the provisions it contains. Nonetheless, it marks the culmination of a decade-long effort to reform the EU’s “Dublin system” for governing migration-related matters.