Asselborn made these statements at the end of the Council of European Ministers of Justice and Home Affairs on Tuesday. The participating ministers discussed proposals from the European Commission, which would establish criteria for restricting freedom of movement. However, many member states would like to see even more border controls, Asselborn stated.
According to the Grand Duchy’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, restrictions of the Schengen area started with the terrorist attacks of 2015 and gained traction first during the migration crisis and then the pandemic. Today, free movement has practically become “the exception” while more and more restrictions are being introduced, Asselborn criticised. More and more member states are now demanding the right for their governments to introduce restrictions “at any time and without any specific reason”. This, according to Asselborn, is “effectively the death of the Schengen area”.
The situation is similarly bad at the EU’s external borders, the Minister continued, and a compromise is “not in sight”. In 2015, the EU had “no migration policy”, a situation which has only become worse, according to Asselborn. For the time being, the situation is “rather calm”, the Minister stated, but as Antoni Vitorino, Director General of the International Organization for Migration, recently pointed out, this could quickly change.
Even with “the best of intentions”, the EU is not prepared for this, Asselborn stressed, adding that the Union has “no responsibility, no solidarity with regard to the migration pact”. The pact proposed by the European Commission, which Asselborn described as “at least somewhat decent”, could have presented solutions to everyone with “a little goodwill”, Asselborn stated. If member states do not have “any internal solidarity to share the burden”, then it will “of course” be impossible to reach an agreement with partner countries, the Minister criticised.
“We can’t stop migration, we can’t close Europe and refugees need help”, Asselborn stressed and reiterated that this is why the EU needs “a good European migration policy”. However, these words increasingly “fall on deaf ears”, the Minister deplored.
