The EU Pact on Migration and Asylum was adopted by EU co-legislators in April this year. Member States have two years to make the adaptations necessary and start implementing the Pact. In particular, each must submit to the European Commission, by 12 December 2024, a national implementation plan.

SOLIDAR, as many of its member organisations, does not like the Pact. We believe the Pact will erode the right to asylum, both by limiting the access to procedures and lowering the standards of these procedures. For certain groups of people, parts or the entirety of the procedure will be carried out in (de facto) detention in border areas, not unlike the infamous hotspot approach characterizing many countries’ response to large arrivals in 2015-2016. As other civil society organisations taking to heart the defense of migrants’ rights and faced with the failure of political negotiators to ensure the respect of these rights, we called on co-legislators to reject the Pact.

For the highest standards in the application of repressive laws

The Pact will do a lot of damage, but Member States retain some margin of maneuver for implementation. SOLIDAR members are lobbying, where and when possible, for a protection-oriented implementation. Below are some of the transversal demands and the country-specific recommendations for Pact in Germany, Poland and Spain.

An important demand is that free, independent, individual legal counselling be made available to all applicants at all stages of the procedure. This is especially crucial in the context of border procedures where the usual channels of legal counselling are less available, due to the remoteness of the facilities. Applicants should also be informed of the possibility to receive this free legal counselling, at the time of submitting an application. The countries that are providing free legal representation at all stages should keep doing so. This implies that independent lawyers and civil society organisations have access to applicants, also when they are in a situation of detention, or restriction of freedom of movement. Applicants will be, de facto, detained during the screening procedure. Beyond screening, Member States may decide to also restrict applicants’ movements in certain situations – but they do not have to and SOLIDAR members call Member States to renounce restricting freedom of movement where it is not strictly necessary.

Lastly, to ensure respect of fundamental rights during screening and asylum border procedures, and in case of violations document them and support investigation efforts, the Pact foresees monitoring by a borders monitoring mechanism. SOLIDAR members have recalled how important it is that this mechanism be enshrined in law, independent, and endowed with a broad mandate and sufficient funds. It should be able to conduct unannounced visits, involve various stakeholders (not only national human rights bodies but also CSOs, academia) and publish its findings annually in the form of a report. The government should, at the very least, comment on the report.

See AWO Bundesverband‘s statement on the draft bill that will adapt the recent asylum reforms in Germany, in German and in English.

See Konsorcjum Migracyjne (Migration Consortium)’s recommendations for the national implementation plan in Poland, in Polish and in English.

See Movimiento por la Paz (MPDL)‘s recommendations for national implementation plan in Spain in Spanish and in English.

Background information

The EU Pact on Migration and Asylum was adopted by EU co-legislators in April this year. Despite the Pact being almost entirely made of regulations, Member States have two years to implement the Pact: they must make the necessary adaptations in their asylum and migration systems to be ready to apply the new provisions by June 2026. In particular, each must submit to the European Commission, by 12 December 2024, a national implementation plan. In this they are guided by the Commission’s Common Implementation Plan presented in June 2024 and built around ten interdependent blocks, and can count on operational, technical and financial support.

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