The solutions for immigration can only go through cooperation with the other EU member states. The obvious goal is to deport and return more immigrants, who are not entitled to asylum, points out the German Minister of the Interior, Nancy Feser, speaking to her correspondent Deutsche Welle on BrusselsBerd Riegert, after the last meeting of EU interior ministers in Luxembourg.

“For me it is important that there are European solutions to fight irregular migration and this is what we want to achieve with the new Pact on Migration and Asylum” says Nancy Feser. “This means we want better external border protection and asylum procedures at external borders for those who have little chance of being granted international protection. I believe that this is the only way we can, in the medium term, bring the immigration situation under control.”

Is the Migration Pact being rushed?

After years of painstaking negotiations, the 27 EU member states reached, last May, a new Pact on Migration and Asylum. With the exception of the resettlement framework regulation, which is already in place, the Pact’s legal instruments are expected to enter into force from June 2026. However, Berlin is trying to speed up the processes at the political level to speed up the implementation of important provisions of the Agree.

As the German Minister of the Interior tells Deutsche Welle “we are already working on the integration of the Pact into national law. In a few days I will present the relevant draft law. From there, we are having a discussion at the European level on whether we can speed up the Pact as a whole or at least those provisions that we consider important. There are many who wish the same, and it would be good if the Pact on Migration and Asylum could enter into force sooner.”

“Negotiation” for the Dublin Regulation

In Germany, however, it is a common belief that the old Dublin Regulation – which makes the “countries of first entry” into the EU solely responsible for the asylum procedure – does not work effectively. And this, because countries like Greece and Italy do not fully implement what was agreed upon. How does the German Minister of the Interior comment on the current situation?

“Since there are provisions in the new Pact, which amend the Dublin Regulation more strictly,” emphasizes Nancy Feser. “On the other hand, we certainly want the Dublin Regulation to be applied by those who do not apply it. We also help them in other cases, so it is a matter of negotiation. I would say, with some reservation, that I foresee a positive reaction and it would be important to move forward in this part, so that the burdens are distributed in a fair way within the EU. Because today the countries that bear the main burden are few and they include Germany”.

“Exception” border controls

With the implementation of the Pact on Migration, Nancy Feser connects the border controls that have started at Germany’s land borders since the beginning of September. As he points out, the checks are an “exception” provided for in the Schengen Area and will continue until effective protection of the external borders is ensured, which is apparently what the new Pact is setting in motion.

But will it take years for all this to happen? “No,” says the German interior minister. “We are trying to accelerate the implementation of the Pact and in this light we hope that we will open the borders again, faster. After all (open borders) is one of the most important achievements of the EU…”

Edited by: Yiannis Papadimitriou