EU states agree on migrant controls
Italian premier cheers compromise that distributes the burden of caring for refugees among member nations
BRUSSELS— European leaders agreed to control migration within the bloc and set up joint asylum processing sites. The compromise was pushed by Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, who was participating in his first EU summit. He complained that other nations were pontificating about helping refugees but refusing to admit asylum-seekers.
BRUSSELS— Political novice Giuseppe Conte, named prime minister only a month ago, shined in his first European Union summit and walked away with a deal that would ease immigration strains on Italy.
“It was a long negotiation but from today Italy is no longer alone,” Conte said after nine hours of high-level talks with other leaders of the 28-country bloc.
Toxic negotiations
Diplomats described the summit as “tense and tortured” with leaders huddling in small groups to avert the humiliation of heading home without having produced an agreement.
At one point, Conte refused to endorse the summit text on security and trade until other leaders agreed to take their shares of the refugees who usually land in Italy, Malta and Spain.
“It is so toxic. They go into the room, clash, storm out, go back again, clash again. With no end in sight,” said one exasperated diplomat as dawn approached.
“It’s pure politics driving this, emotions are flying as high as back in 2015,” another EU diplomat said.
Conte and German Chancellor Angela Merkel earlier agreed to a 45-minute bilateral meeting, but it ended after only 20 minutes when Conte rejected Merkel’s proposals, diplomats said.
Compromise communiqué
The summit itself could only produce a vaguely worded communiqué on strengthening external borders and setting up migrant control centers.
In the final statement, the leaders agreed to set up joint asylum processing sites and restrict migrant moves within the bloc, but they would only bemade on a “voluntary basis” by member states.
They also agreed to tighten their external border and increase financing for Turkey, Morocco and other North African states to prevent mi- gration to Europe.
The summit reflected how the deluge of immigrants in 2015 spawned antiimmigration sentiments that still linger despite a drop in arrivals this year.
Ex-communist easterners led by Poland and Hungary are still refusing to accept a share of the new arrivals to alleviate the burden on countries like Italy and Greece.
Merkel’s crisis
It was unclear whether the deal would help Merkel dissuade her coalition partner from shutting Bavaria’s border to migrants and triggering the collapse of her three-month-old government as well as the EU’s Schengen zone of free travel.
Merkel herself admitted that a lot remains to be done to fix her domestic troubles and that of the eurozone, but it was a good sign that the door to compromise was still open.
“Overall, after an intensive discussion on the most challenging theme for the European Union, namely migration, it is a good signal that we agreed a common text,” Merkel said.
“We still have a lot of work to do to bridge the different views,” she added.
Macron’s capital
The same was true for the euro single currency, which is facing increasing skepticism from some member-states.
In a bid to boost his dwindling political capital in France, President Emmanuel Macron pushed for an ambitious plan for a eurozone budget which set to be discussed on Friday.
But smaller members, led by the Netherlands, have voiced their irritation at having the EU’s future decided only by France and Germany, which make up nearly half of the eurozone economy.
The two countries are seeking the adoption of the Meseberg Declaration which they alone crafted at a recent meeting in Germany.