Sánchez’s deep loneliness was evident during the EU Home Affairs Council held this Monday in Brussels, where the ministers in charge approved, on the one hand, comfortable qualified majoritya legislative reform aimed at toughening European migration policy.
Fernando Grande Marlaska He was the only minister to vote against – at least publicly – the centerpiece of the package: the regulation that accelerates the expulsions of irregular migrants and authorizes the creation of detention centers in third countries.
In practice, this means extending the model promoted by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni through its agreement with Albania. An agreement that has so far been called into question by Italian justice, but which will now have the support of community legislation.
The Minister of the Interior also voted “no” to the regulation on safe third countrieswhich allows Member States to expel migrants to third countries other than their origin, even without having a prior link or having transited through its territory before arriving in Europe. In this case, France, Portugal and Greece also expressed reservations.
The express approval of this restrictive shift was possible thanks to the comfortable majority enjoyed in the Council by the Christian Democratic and radical right governmentsfor whom stopping immigration is an absolute priority.
Even the few surviving socialist governments in the EU have not supported Sánchez. The most striking case is that of Denmark’s Mette Frederiksen, who, since the current presidency, has played a key role in the conclusion of 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 human traffickers amass fortunes,” said the Danish Interior Minister. Rasmus Stoklund.
“This shows that The current system generates perverse incentives and a strong pull effect, which are difficult to eliminate. “Denmark and most EU member states have championed the idea of processing asylum applications in safe third countries, to reduce incentives to undertake dangerous journeys to Europe,” he stressed.
Also President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyenpromoter of all legislative proposals that grant legal protection to Meloni modelcelebrated the agreement reached between the governments, still awaiting ratification by the European Parliament. “Well done!”, he wrote on his platform X account.
Marlaska implicitly admitted the isolation of the Sánchez government in the EU, but 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 we are not alone, but that is not the debate. The debate is about maintaining a concrete, serious and motivated position over time,” Marlaska declared to justify her 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 made; But questions of values, I think that’s a red line for us.“said Marlaska.
For her part, the Minister of Inclusion, Security and Migration, Elma Saizwho also participated in the Brussels meeting, defended the Sánchez government’s commitment to a “humanist vision of immigration policy“.
“Spain is good proof that effective management of migration policy is perfectly compatible without losing sight of the central place of human rights,” said Saiz.
A sudoku in four parts
RETURN REGULATIONS. 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 expulsions of irregular immigrants. Currently, only 20% of expulsion orders are executed on average in the EU.
The regulation also imposes an obligation on migrants to cooperate with national authorities throughout the return procedure. Failure to comply will result in migrants facing additional sanctions, such as fines, detention or an extension of the period during which they cannot return to the EU.
In fact, the reform extends the maximum duration of detention of migrants from 18 to 24 months, even if 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 who have received a final return decision, on the basis of an agreement concluded bilaterally or at EU level.
In other words, it is a “variable geometry” model that can be used by interested governments and rejected by others.
Marlaska expressed “serious legal, political and economic doubts” about the return centers, which could also provoke a “negative impact” on bilateral relations with key partners in preventing irregular migration at origin.
Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Markaska greets one of his colleagues during Monday’s meeting in Brussels
REGULATION OF SECURE THIRD COUNTRIES. Secondly, the 27 gave the green light to regulation on safe third countrieswhich will allow Member States to expel migrants to third countries to process their asylum applications, even if they have no links with them and have not 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 concluded with Albania.
REGULATION OF SAFE COUNTRIES OF ORIGIN. Third, the EU 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 as they will generally be refused.
In this case, Spain did not vote against. The list is made up of all candidate countries for entry into the EU, to which must be added Colombia, Morocco, Tunisia, Kosovo, Bangladesh, India and Egypt.
SOLIDARITY RESERVE. Finally, the interior ministers reached an agreement political agreement on solidarity reserve which will be available in 2026 for countries suffering from strong migratory pressure: Spain, Italy, Greece and Cyprus. This is one of the main novelties of the European Pact on Immigration and Asylum, approved under the Spanish Presidency of the EU.
Interior ministers They agreed to distribute 21,000 plaintiffs asylum or to make a total financial contribution of 420 million euros. Each Member State will be free to decide whether it wishes to welcome migrants or opt for monetary compensation.
Under migratory pressure, Spain will not have to contribute but will rather benefit from this aid. However, Marlaska refrained from making this decision because he considered the offer insufficient.
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