Sánchez’s profound loneliness has been evident at the EU Home Affairs Council held this Monday in Brussels, where the ministers of the field have approved, for one comfortable qualified majoritya legislative reform aimed at toughening European migration policy.
Fernando Grande-Marlaska He has been the only minister to vote against—at least publicly—the centerpiece of the package: the regulation that accelerates the deportations of irregular migrants and authorizes the creation of retention centers in third countries.
In practice, it means extending the model promoted by the first minister Giorgia Meloni through its agreement with Albania. An agreement until now questioned by the Italian justice system, but which will now have the support of community legislation.
The Minister of the Interior has also voted ‘no’ to the regulation on safe third countrieswhich allows Member States to deport migrants to non-EU countries other than their origin, even without there being any prior link or having transited through its territory before arriving in Europe. In this case, France, Portugal and Greece have also expressed reservations.
The express approval of this restrictive turn has been possible thanks to the comfortable majority enjoyed in the Council by the Christian Democrat and radical right governmentsfor whom stopping immigration is an absolute priority.
Not even the few socialist governments that survive in the EU have supported Sánchez. The most striking case is that of Mette Frederiksen’s Denmark, which, since the current presidency, has played a key role in securing the agreement.
Danish Interior Minister Rasums Stoklund during his press conference this Monday in Brussels
“We are experiencing a high flow of irregular migrants and our countries are under pressure. Thousands of people are drowning in the Mediterranean or suffering abuse along migration routes, while people traffickers are amassing fortunes,” said the Danish Interior Minister, Rasmus Stoklund.
“This shows that The current system generates perverse incentives and a strong call effect, which are difficult to eliminate. “Denmark and most EU Member States have defended the idea of processing asylum applications in safe third countries, in order to reduce incentives to undertake dangerous journeys to Europe,” he highlighted.
Also the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyenpromoter of all legislative proposals that give legal protection to Meloni modelhas celebrated the agreement reached between the Governments, still pending ratification by the European Parliament. “Good job!”, he wrote on his platform X account.
Marlaska has implicitly admitted the isolation of the Sánchez Government in the EU, but has used as an argument the defense of the values and human rights of migrants, implying that the rest of the partners do not respect them.
“I believe that we are not alone, but that is not the debate. The debate is to maintain a concrete, serious, reasoned position over time,” Marlaska said to justify his decision.
The minister stressed that “Spain is absolutely involved in the fight against irregular immigration”, but at the same time defends the fundamental values of the EU, in particular the human rights of migrants.
“There are many things that can be negotiated, agreements can be reached; But issues of values, I think that is a red line for us.“says Marlaska.
For her part, the Minister of Inclusion, Security and Migrations, Elma Sizewho also attended the Brussels meeting, has defended the Sánchez Government’s commitment to a “humanistic vision of immigration policy“.
“Spain is good proof that effective management of migration policy is perfectly compatible without losing sight of putting human rights at the center,” said Saiz.
A four piece sudoku
RETURN REGULATION. The centerpiece of the immigration reform approved by the Home Affairs Council is the new return regulation, whose objective is to simplify and accelerate the deportations of irregular immigrants. Currently, only 20% of expulsion orders are executed on average in the EU.
The regulation also imposes the obligation on migrants to cooperate with the national authorities throughout the return procedure. In case of non-compliance, migrants will face additional sanctions, such as fines, detention or an extension of the period in which they cannot return to the EU.
In fact, the reform extends the maximum period of detention of migrants from 18 to 24 months, although the period can be extended indefinitely with successive extensions of 6 months.
Finally, the regulation introduces the legal possibility of returning to a third country (other than that of origin) to people who are illegally in the EU and have received a final return decision, on the basis of an agreement concluded bilaterally or at EU level.
That is, it is a “variable geometry” model that can be used by interested governments and discarded by the rest.
Marlaska has expressed “serious legal, political and economic doubts” about the return centers, which could also cause a “negative impact” on bilateral relations with key partners in preventing irregular migration at origin.
The Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Markaska, greets one of his colleagues during the meeting this Monday in Brussels
REGULATION OF SAFE THIRD COUNTRIES. Secondly, the 27 have given the green light to the regulation on safe third countrieswhich will allow Member States to deport migrants to non-EU countries to process their asylum requests there, even if they have no link with them nor have they transited through their territory to reach Europe.
It will be enough for the Member State in question – or the European Union as a whole – to have signed an agreement similar to the one that Meloni’s Italy has with Albania.
REGULATION OF SAFE COUNTRIES OF ORIGIN. Thirdly, the EU has approved the first common list of countries of origin considered safe. Asylum applications from citizens of these territories will be processed in the EU in an accelerated manner because they will generally be denied.
In this case, Spain has not voted against. The list is made up of all the candidate countries to enter the EU, to which we must add Colombia, Morocco, Tunisia, Kosovo, Bangladesh, India and Egypt.
SOLIDARITY RESERVE. Finally, the Ministers of the Interior have reached a political agreement on solidarity reserve which will be available in 2026 for countries suffering from high migratory pressure: Spain, Italy, Greece and Cyprus. This is one of the main novelties of the European Pact on Immigration and Asylum that was approved during the Spanish presidency of the EU.
The Ministers of the Interior They have agreed to distribute 21,000 plaintiffs of asylum or to make a total financial contribution of 420 million euros. Each Member State will be free to decide whether to welcome migrants or opt for monetary compensation.
Being under migratory pressure, Spain will not have to contribute but rather benefits from this aid. However, Marlaska has abstained from the decision because he considered the offer insufficient.