Von der Leyen provides legal cover for the Meloni migrant camps outside the EU

BrusselsThe agreement between the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, on migration issues is almost absolute. Brussels proposed a legislative reform this Tuesday that would provide legal protection for migrant camps in third countries with which the deportees have no ties, such as those Italy has created in Albania. Thus, this measure is in addition to the battery of initiatives that the EU executive has already presented in recent months to expedite and increase the number of returns.

Specifically, the EU executive has announced that it will no longer be "mandatory" for member states to only expel immigrants to countries with which the newcomer has some ties. According to EU sources, this is a reform "consistent" with the desire to make migrant returns more efficient, as requested by a large majority of European governments. However, countries will not be required to transpose this part of the EU regulation into their national legislation.

In the event that member states do not wish to copy the Meloni model, the European Commission also proposes that all states through which an immigrant has passed through on arrival in European territory be considered "safe countries" for deporting an immigrant. This would make it easier for EU member states to send new arrivals to countries with which many European governments already have migration agreements, such as Morocco, Tunisia, or Algeria. In any case, Brussels says that such agreements will have to be evaluated by the European Commission, which will ensure that they comply with EU law.

On the other hand, Brussels intends that all appeals by immigrants against their expulsions to third countries no longer entail an automatic suspension of the deportation process until a final decision is made. According to EU sources, the objective is to reduce "procedural delays and prevent abuses" due to the slowness of these procedures.

In any case, the legal reform that the European Commission presented this Tuesday must be negotiated and approved by the EU Council—the European institution that represents the Member States—and the European Parliament. However, there is no reason to believe that these two institutions will hinder the unprecedented tightening of migration policies promoted by Von der Leyen's government, since the right and the far right hold a majority in the European Parliament, and most European governments—from the Social Democrats to Meloni—support it.

This proposal comes months after a majority ofEuropean leaders will be in favorto the creation of migrant camps outside the EU, and that Von der Leyen herself announced at the end of last year that she would propose "innovative solutions," the euphemism she used to refer to these centers. Thus, as promised, Brussels has finally advocated allowing the rest of the Member States to replicate the Italian Prime Minister's plan throughout the EU, which has funded centers in Albania to deport irregular migrants.

The European Commission assures that all measures implemented by Member States under the legal umbrella of the new EU Returns Directive will comply with international law and human rights. However, there are doubts about the legality of sending migrants to centers outside the EU, especially if there is no guarantee that it is a safe country and that it does not violate the rights of those who have been forcibly displaced. In fact, the Meloni model is now awaiting a final ruling from the European Court of Justice.