Spain’s ‘regularisation’ of migrants drew criticism in Brussels. Yet demands from Denmark, Italy, and Poland for stricter measures (or even intensifying institutional attention) on immigration missed the session’s conclusions.
For over four hours of heated and lively discussion on the second day of the European Council, EU leaders debated how to manage migration within the bloc’s borders. European Council President António Costa stated during the final press conference that “Migration remains a highly political issue, with differing political visions.” But he also said he is confident that a common solution is not far away. Hungary is among the countries supporting a “stricter” set of summit conclusions, as proposed by Poland, Italy, and Denmark.
Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar noted on X: “It is clear that strict, decisive, and effective border protection, combined with the immediate repatriation of illegal migrants, is now seen by the majority of European countries as the way forward. But not by everyone, at least, not yet.”
An effort to persuade the remaining holdouts has thus officially begun, with these frontrunners aiming to bring the few member states that still oppose the tougher approach on board before the next European Council meeting in December.
Inputs from the Commission
Amid the political confusion and the polarized nature of the debate, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen took a jab at Spain’s policy of “extraordinary regularisation”. Speaking at a press conference at the end of the second day of the EUCO, she remarked: “Decisions regarding the regularisation of migrants in an irregular situation fall under national competence; however, like other national decisions, they can have cross-border repercussions. For this reason, in the era of Schengen, coordination and close cooperation are of great importance,” the Commission president delivered a stern rebuke to Pedro Sánchez, Spain’s prime minister.
It is clear that strict, decisive, and effective border protection, combined with the immediate repatriation of illegal migrants, is now seen by the majority of European countries as the way forward. — Péter Magyar, Hungary’s prime ministr
Mette Fredriksen, Danish prime minister is strongly pushing for the entire EU to adopt a tougher stance. She had already criticized the actions taken by Mr Sánchez earlier in the day. “I have asked the Commission to examine what happens when a country does practically the opposite of what we are doing,” Ms Frederiksen stated. “You arrive in a country illegally, and suddenly you can obtain permission to stay there legally.”
Austria also echoed clearly this sentiment. “Spain has sent a signal by regularizing many irregular migrants present in the country, and it is not a good signal,” declared Chancellor Christian Stocker.
New framework for emergencies
Regarding hybrid threats and the use of migrants as a weapon, Ms von der Leyen wrote in her pre-summit letter from 13 October that “The European Commission will work closely with member states on a new European emergency response framework, building on existing legal precedents.” Today, she announced that the plan will be unveiled by the end of the year.
“In recent years, we have witnessed a new phenomenon: states and non-state actors orchestrating sudden mass movements of people with a very clear objective – to overwhelm authorities, sow panic, and, above all, divide us. Situations of this kind constitute an emergency and require a specific instrument,” Ms von der Leyen explained at the summit’s closing press conference.
Rome broadly shares Denmark’s stance, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed its strong support for this initiative on Friday. “This is very important to us, because you may recall that we raised this issue months and months ago—long before the Ceuta crisis—through one of our legislative proposals on security. Today, this element, which originated in Italy, is being taken up, acknowledged, and developed by the European Commission as well,” she recalled with a degree of satisfaction.
Innovative solutions
Meanwhile, Italy, Denmark, and Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten hosted an informal meeting of 17 member states particularly interested in exploring innovative solutions of migration management. Participants included Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Sweden.
The meeting provided an opportunity to take stock of progress made in recent months and discuss future initiatives. It focused specifically on preventing mass irregular arrivals, countering the instrumentalisation of migrants, and implementing the new European regulatory framework.
This is very important to us, because you may recall that we raised this issue months and months ago—long before the Ceuta crisis—through one of our legislative proposals on security. — Giorgia Meloni, Italy’s prime minister
Ms Meloni also raised the prospect of a targeted revision of some migration-related EU legislation. The aim is to enhance the effectiveness of new procedures concerning the detention of irregular migrants during border processing.
Stricter approach fails to gain traction
However, the demands put forward by Denmark, Italy, and Poland did not make it into the section on migration in the European Council’s conclusions. These appeared in a condensed, two-paragraph form. The text now merely adds a reference to a future European Commission initiative against the instrumentalisation of migration flows.
Denmark, with support from Italy and Poland, proposed “coordination regarding national measures that have an impact on other states”. This amendment was an implicit reference to the regularisation measures for migrants adopted by the Spanish government. In the view of these governments, regularisation measures implemented without European coordination could act as a “pull factor” for new migration flows.
A proposal to define irregular immigration as a ‘major European challenge’also failed to attract wider support. According to Copenhagen, it “causes concern among many European citizens, creates social problems, and poses a serious challenge to social cohesion”. This appears to enjoy the support of European citizens, many opinion polls suggest. In official Eurobarometer surveys and regional trackers, immigration frequently trades off with inflation and the cost of living as a top-tier issue.
