Anti-migrant quota nations violated law, rules top EU court
THE FAILURE OF NATIONS TO TAKE PART IN THE MEASURE TO HELP EU PARTNERS IN DISTRESS WAS AT THE HEART OF ONE OF THE BIGGEST POLITICAL CRISES
BRUSSELS:THE European Union’s top court ruled on Thursday that the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland broke EU law by refusing to comply with a refugee quota programme launched after well over a million migrants entered the bloc, most fleeing war in Syria and Iraq.
In an emergency move in 2015, EU nations agreed to relocate up to 160,000 refugees from Italy and Greece as those two countries buckled under the number of migrant arrivals. Five years on, Greece is still struggling to manage the burden, with thousands of people held in deplorable conditions in the Greek islands.
That “temporary relocation mechanism” decision was made in a vote requiring about a twothirds majority among the EU member countries — 28 at the time.
The Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland were among a small group of nations that voted against the move. In the end, only about 40,000 refugees were relocated. The Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland took in almost none over the two years the scheme was in operation. The EU’S executive arm, the European Commission, sought an explanation but they gave no satisfactory answers.
In its ruling, the European Court of Justice said that “by refusing to comply with the temporary mechanism for the relocation of applicants for international protection, Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic have failed to fulfil their obligations under European Union law.”
The ECJ said it weighed counter-arguments by the three states but found them lacking.
The three had argued that EU countries alone are responsible for ensure public safety and not the commission, which drew up the quota scheme and took the countries to court.
The failure of nations to take part in the measure to help EU partners in distress was at the heart of one of the bloc’s biggest political crises. Immigration issue later became a major votewinner for far-right parties.