Rome-Paris sparks ‘unresolved issues on migrants’ – Europe

“Knots with Italy” on the issue of migration, especially the application of the law, “have not yet been resolved”. Marking the distance – Paris is ahead of the Alicante summit that will bring the nine Mediterranean EU countries to the table – as the Home Affairs Council gets underway in Brussels with a chapter expressly set aside for a subtle reform of the Dublin treaty. Elysee returns to the confrontation with Rome during the first weeks of Meloni’s government: “We have not yet seen any change in the position of the Italian authorities on the application of flag state law,” notes the French presidential source. . This is one of the most delicate and still open chapters the EU is discussing to achieve a reform of the rules governing entry into Europe. In short, sparks continue in the Transsalpine Arc. For example, contrary to Elysee’s claim, Palazzo Sigi denies receiving an “official invitation” from Emmanuel Macron’s secretariat to meet Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. A trip to Paris to ease tensions over the Ocean Viking issue. “Let’s imagine that some of the invitations are not in the press,” Italian government sources noted. Nor, for now, are there any meetings on the sidelines of the Alicante summit, where the schedule will be much smaller than the European Council (scheduled for next Thursday). Yet, according to various diplomatic sources, public tensions do not seep into the button rooms of Brussels, where important negotiations are being conducted. Like the Home Affairs Council. On the contrary. In the Belgian capital, progress is also being made. “Today we have achieved a political orientation in the delicate balance between solidarity and responsibility,” European Interior Commissioner Jylva Johansson assures. is the responsibility of the Swedish President”. Registration in countries of first landing and reducing the secondary movements of migrants. A balance, not really easy. Detection and always subject to landslides. However, France is diluted in this aspect. “We focused on an open debate-Italian, on the other hand, it It will obviously be a very broad debate”, they argued at the Elysée and welcomed the progress made compared to last year, in particular, the extraordinary meeting of EU interior ministers on 25 November. “It was well understood that it was a European question,” said Pippill. Work continues. However, in all this, a certain fact is celebrated in Brussels: after the green light of the Council, Croatia entered Schengen, the European ecosystem that allows travel without borders. Of course, according to the promises of the Commission and the rotating Presidency (Czech Republic), Schengen should have grown by three members with the arrival of Romania and Bulgaria, thus completing the blue-starred ‘belt’ and joining Greece. boundaries. But no: Austria’s (and the Netherlands’) veto has pushed Bucharest and Sofia back out, both countries now having the necessary requirements for EU governance. “An incomprehensible and illogical choice”, commented a disappointed Interior Minister Matteo Piandedosi, according to which Romania and Bulgaria “will contribute significantly to the control of the EU’s eastern borders”. But the proposal was rejected as the matter was in the hands of the member states. “Despite clear signals, the president frantically tried to reach a decision and finally forced a vote, which is highly unusual under the circumstances,” a diplomatic source said. Now, perhaps, the hot potato will land on the table of the leaders in the European Council for another round of consideration (for example, Germany was in favor).