EU countries, lawmakers agree major reform of asylum system

EU member states states and the European Parliament on Wednesday, 20 December agreed to a major overhaul of the bloc's laws on handling asylum-seekers and migrants, European Commission Vice President Margaritis Schinas said, describing the deal as a "breakthrough."

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola hailed the deal as a "landmark agreement" on the messaging platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

Germany has also welcomed the agreement, with Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock saying it was "urgently needed and long overdue."

What is the agreement about?

The aim of the agreement is to reduce the amount of irregular migration to the European Union.

The reform includes provisions for faster vetting of irregular arrivals, the creation of border detention centers and quicker deportation for asylum seekers whose requests are rejected.

The overhaul also contains a solidarity mechanism to reduce the pressure for southern countries that are seeing large numbers of asylum seekers arriving at their gates. 

Under the mechanism, some asylum seekers will be relocated to other EU states, while countries that refuse to take them in will make a financial or material contribution to those that do.

Up to the end of November this year, the EU border agency Frontex had registered more than 355,000 irregular border crossings into the bloc, an increase of 17%.

What do critics say?

While the agreement has been described as "historic" by several conservative lawmakers, left-leaning politicians have been anything but positive about the reform.

"The negotiators agreed to undermine the right to seek asylum," said German EU lawmaker Damian Boeselager, a member of the European Greens.

"This new system will make sure we have prison camps at our borders and should have never been accepted," Boeselager said.

Several aid agencies that work with migrants, such as Amnesty International, Oxfam, Caritas and Save the Children, have also slammed the reform, saying it will create a "cruel system" that is also unworkable.