More controls, more expulsions: Europe applies its migration pact from today, with Spain uncomfortable

After years of bitter institutional debates, political blockages and growing pressure on the margins of Europe, the new Pact on Migration and Asylum of the European Union (EU) went this Friday from being a theoretical document to becoming a mandatory regulatory framework. It’s official now.

The European Commission (EC) has described the deployment of the pact as an “effective, fair and firm” solution. For its defenders, it is the only way to shield the Schengen area and unify a fragmented system that collapsed in the 2015 crisis. For its detractors – including prominent human rights organizations – it represents the institutionalization of a “Fortress Europe” that puts the international right of asylum at risk. Spain doesn’t like it.

But what exactly changes on the ground with the new European club rules and why is it so divisive? In El HuffPost We try to explain to you the keys to a bet that involves a shift to the right, satisfying the forces that are betting more on a police and security vision than on a humane and welcoming one. No, Leo XIV’s message these days does not penetrate.

The “input filter”

The first major pillar of the pact seeks to make the EU’s external borders no longer permeable. Starting today, a mandatory control system is introduced (screening) for any person who accesses community territory without authorization.

The protocol indicates that, within a maximum period of seven days, border authorities must carry out medical, security and identity checks, in addition to registering fingerprints and facial recognition in the common Eurodac database. In the case of Spain, the current period of 72 hours is maintained for this triage.

For the first time, the biometric data of children from the age of six will be recorded (compared to the previously required age of 14), a measure justified by Brussels to combat human trafficking and track missing minors, but harshly criticized by children’s groups. It is a technical change of the first order.

“Express” procedures and de facto arrests

Under the new scheme, not all migrants who request international protection will follow the same path. The pact introduces an accelerated asylum procedure directly in border areas.

Who does it involve? It will be applied on a mandatory basis to applicants who pose a risk to public security or who come from countries with asylum recognition rates of less than 20% in the EU (such as Morocco, Tunisia or Pakistan).

The bizarre concept of “non-entry” also stands out: legally, while this accelerated procedure lasts (a maximum of 12 weeks), the person will be considered to have not yet entered EU territory. In practice, this will involve detention in special centers near airports or ports, what organizations such as Human Rights Watch or Amnesty International describe as “generalized detention” schemes. The EU insists that they will not be detained, that they will be “enabled facilities” in which they will not be deprived of their liberty.

Regarding the reception network for migrants who arrive irregularly in Spain and asylum seekers, the Spanish Government has guaranteed that it will maintain its capacity. The Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration has made its centers available for the international protection border procedure, with about 10,000 places, reports EFE.

Mandatory solidarity… but “à la carte”

One of the most conflictive points during the years of negotiation was the Dublin regulation, which historically obliged the first country of arrival (such as Spain, Italy or Greece) to take charge of the asylum application. The new system maintains that principle, but introduces a “mandatory solidarity” mechanism.

If a Member State is under extreme migratory pressure, the rest of the community partners will have to help, but they will be able to choose how to do so through a menu of options. They are the following:

Eastern bloc countries such as Poland and Hungary strongly opposed mandatory relocation quotas, so this flexible formula was the political toll needed to unblock the deal.

In the case of Spain, the priority for the first cycle of this pact – the first six months – will be to receive a financial contribution destined largely to pay for operational details such as the training of judges to resolve these cases, according to diplomatic sources. This does not mean that Spain does not have to contribute to the quota: all countries must do so based on their GDP and population, and the Spanish Government proposed months ago to contribute 42 million euros this year, a sum on which it could later request a reduction or exemption.

Accelerated returns and “safe third countries”

The pact not only speeds up the analysis of who can stay, but also simplifies the expulsion of those who are rejected. If the asylum application is denied in the express border process, an immediate return protocol is activated that should not exceed 12 weeks.

In addition, the regulations redefine the concept of “safe third country”. This allows Member States to return a migrant to a transit country (outside the EU) if it is considered that they could have applied for formal protection there. Within the margin provided by the pact, the Spanish Government of PSOE and Sumar has been categorical in rejecting some of the most restrictive measures that many other members are moving towards, such as the creation of deportation centers outside the territory of the EU, for having “serious doubts” about their “legality and proportionality.”

Although it is not formally part of the body of the pact approved two years ago, the EU complemented the strategy earlier this month by agreeing to create “return centers” in third countries (externalization of migration management). This derivative has opened a gap between the members: while several partners are pushing to accelerate these external centers, countries like Spain have openly shown their rejection, defending an approach that they consider “guaranteeing and respectful” of international law. It is the shadow of externalization, a path that countries as unprogressive as Italy have already followed.

The forecasts

The EU Commissioner for Home Affairs and Migration, Magnus Brunner, has defended the appropriateness of the moment, pointing out that this “puts the European house in order”, allowing us to decide “who comes, who can stay and who should leave.”

However, analysts agree that the success of the pact will depend on titanic logistical implementation and political trust between capitals that, historically, has been scarce in immigration matters. With the rise of hard-right and eurosceptic parties in the European Parliament, scrutiny on the ground will be fierce.

For the thousands of migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean or jump border fences, the rules of the game have completely changed starting today. What remains to be seen is whether the new measures will reduce arrival flows or simply shift migratory routes towards even more dangerous paths.

This Thursday, the Spanish Ministry of the Interior published a statement in which, despite abiding by what was decided in the Twenty-Seven, it made comments about the application of the plan. “June 12 marks a key date in this common path, but it is not the final point,” said the minister, Fernando Grande Marlaska. It is implemented, he says, by a “guaranteeing and respectful approach to the rights of applicants” at these border posts. To ensure compliance with these guarantees, migrants will have legal assistance, UNHCR intervention and the possibility of requesting a re-examination of their case if the initial request is denied. According to Interior, the pact “improves the detection of vulnerabilities through early individual evaluation.”

The great reviews

Last February, up to 80 NGOs protested against the Return Regulation, because they understand that they contravene the founding principles and values ​​of the community club and represent a conservative turn to please the extreme right, with growing power in the states and in the European chamber. It will be a framework “similar to that of North American Donald Trump’s ICE.”

In a joint document, they denounced the creation of “return centers” because they carry the risk of “chain expulsions to unsafe countries where the lives of migrants may be in danger.” They also consider the possibility of detention of minors and families, eliminating previous medical exemptions and protection of the family unit.

Furthermore, they denounce that the law opens the door to massive raids, greater police presence in public services and the use of racial profiling within European communities, and to cuts in the right to asylum (which is an obligation of international humanitarian law), with accelerated review procedures, which “reduce legal guarantees”, making the right to request international protection more difficult.