Agroup of political parties backing Ursula von der Leyen for a second term in one of the most powerful jobs in Brussels at the head of the European Commission is planning to call for further migration reforms, similar to the UK’s Rwanda policy, to head off the rise of the far right.
The European People’s party (EPP), an umbrella group of centre-right and conservative parties, has said in the final draft of its manifesto ahead of elections to the European parliament in May that it wants a series of deal with non-EU countries with a view to deporting irregular migrants for asylum processing in “safe” third countries.
The draft advocating a fundamental change in European asylum law will be discussed at the EPP’s annual congress in Bucharest on Wednesday.
But the hardening of migration policy is likely to inflame tensions within parliament and create external political risks for von der Leyen, who must represent the interests of the entire bloc and not one political group in parliament, where the EPP is the largest grouping.
She will be formally selected as the EPP’s official candidate for the European Commission presidency in a vote in Romania on Thursday – meaning that it will back her for a second term in office.
One Brussels insider said “the socialists will go mad with this” – a reference to the Socialists and Democrats, the second-biggest voting bloc in the European parliament.
“Yet another unsavoury EPP chunk of red meat, meant to attract the far-right vote. It will not work. All the EPP strategy has achieved over the past years, is making the far right bigger. So if they know it doesn’t work, why do they stubbornly repeat the same tactics each time?” said Sophie in ‘t Veld, a Dutch MEP, and the lead representative for the liberal Renew group on the parliament committee for civil liberties, justice and home affairs.
The EPP represents centre-right parties across Europe, including government parties in Greece, Poland, Ireland, Latvia, Croatia, Lithuania, Sweden, Romania, Finland and Luxembourg.
“We want to implement the concept of safe third countries. Anyone applying for asylum in the EU could also be transferred to a safe third country and undergo the asylum process there,” its manifesto says.
But, in what could be seen as a bid to set itself apart from the UK’s controversial Rwanda policy, its manifesto stresses that the “criteria for safe countries shall be in line with the core obligations of the Geneva Refugee Convention and the European convention on human rights”.
It says that neither of the conventions “include the right to freely choose the country of protection.”
Developing the theme further it says that following the “implementation of the third country concept” it proposes that the EU then “admit a quota of people in need of protection through annual humanitarian quotas of vulnerable individuals”.
The publication of the manifesto and the launch of the EPP campaign could be start of a tricky period for von der Leyen.
“I don’t think she will have any difficulty among member states, but the parliamentary vote is another game altogether,” said one diplomat.
While very little legislation is left to negotiate, the bumps on the road to June act as a reminder of how von der Leyen came to power in 2019 as a last minute compromise candidate who was voted in with a wafer thin majority five years ago. Story by Lisa O'Carroll in Brussels, The Guardian