Jean Asselborn, Luxembourg's Minister of Foreign and European Affairs;
Credit: MAEE
On Friday, Luxembourg's Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Jean Asselborn, took part in the EU Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) Council meeting via videoconference.
After a first exchange of views during the previous JHA Council meeting in October, this meeting was an opportunity for the ministers in charge of migration to discuss the new Pact on Migration and Asylum, presented by the European Commission on 23 September 2020. The ministers focussed on the various aspects of the pact, such as the external dimension, the pre-entry phase, the solidarity mechanism, the means of improving return and the role of EU agencies.
While the discussion brought the member states closer together on the external dimension, discussions remained tense on border procedures and solidarity.
In his speech, Minister Jean Asselborn highlighted the link between foreign and migration policy. He reiterated Luxembourg's position that southern member states must be able to count on automatic, transparent and predictable solidarity. The President of the Council, Minister Horst Seehofer, added that it is not acceptable in the long term for a few member states alone to take on the burden of relocation.
As for the future, the German Presidency of the Council of the EU will organise bilateral meetings aimed at obtaining a political agreement on the main elements of the pact at the next Council meeting in December.
