Ahead Of Malta Meeting, France and Italy Agree On Migration Policy Overhaul
Ahead of a ministerial meeting in Malta on Monday that is set to discuss the relocation of migrants, France and Italy have agreed that Europe’s migration policy needs to be radically changed.
“The European Union hasn’t shown enough solidarity with countries handling first arrivals, notably Italy,” said the French President Emmanuel Macron.
Macron said that there needed to an “overhauling of the Dublin accords.”
The Dublin Accords are EU regulations which bind asylum seekers to seek asylum in the first EU member state they land in.
This agreement between France and Italy comes after Italy’s newly formed government proposed changes in the system of distribution of migrants.
French President Emmanuel Macron (right) and Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte (left) (Picture: Euractive))
Italy put forward a migration proposal
After the new Italian government was formed between Movimento Cinque Stelle and Partito Democratico, which ousted Salvin from the government.
The new government pushed for an automatic system for migrant distribution. if accepted, the plan would see Italy taking in ten per cent of the migrants, with Germany and France taking in twenty-five per cent each.
The proposal currently enjoys the support of both France and Germany.
This would be a sigh of relief for both Malta and Italy if an agreement is found on the system of distribution as they are both generally the first ports of call for migrants in the Mediterranean.
It would also make the situation easier as an alternative would be found to the case-by-case negotiations which European states have to get involved in, including Malta.
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