Austria and 16 EU countries are calling for migrants to be returned more quickly

Austria and the Netherlands they demand European Commission on, which is almost 20 years old EU Return Directive to be renewed in order to be able to send migrants back more easily. The two initiators and 15 other EU countries demand in a “non-paper” published by the Dutch government that “returns must be facilitated and accelerated through a new legal framework based on a new proposal.”

According to information from the Austrian Interior Ministry, the document is already causing discussions among the EU interior ministers in advance of their meeting on Thursday. “A fair and credible asylum system requires consistent deportations. People who are not allowed to stay must fulfill their obligation to leave the country. Anyone who does not cooperate must face consequences,” said Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP)which took place on Thursday in Luxemburg is there, in a statement to the APA.

“Paradigm change in the return process”

The EU Return Directive, which has been in force since December 2008, sets out “common standards and procedures in the Member States for the return of illegally staying third-country nationals”. The EU Commission presented a proposal for a revision as early as 2018. The new paper now lists goals for a new proposal: a “paradigm change in the return process with obligations for third-country nationals” is called for. People without protection status should be obliged to be ready for their return and the return procedures should be simplified.

A new legal basis must “clearly define” this. “Anyone who does not have the right to stay must be held accountable. Non-cooperation must have consequences and be sanctioned.” In addition, the newly formulated legal text is not intended to offer much scope for legal interpretation. “A new legal basis is needed in the form of a modern legal framework that responds to real challenges and developments and reflects the needs of Member States, Schengen countries and the EU,” it says. The digitization and simplification of procedures should be accelerated.

The EU’s new asylum and migration pact already contains numerous tightening measures of the previous rules. The aim is to curb irregular migration. The package provides for uniform border procedures at the EU’s external borders. In particular, there are plans to deal much more harshly with people from countries that are considered relatively safe. Still-Minister of Finance Magnus Brunner (ÖVP) will be largely responsible for implementation as the designated EU Commissioner for Migration.

Under its new government, the Netherlands wants to withdraw from the EU asylum rules altogether. After the election victory of the right-wing populist Freedom Party (PVV), it governs together with three bourgeois parties, PVV leader Geert Wilders But because of the reservations of the other parties, he decided not to take up government office, which is why the non-party ex-secret service chief Dick Schoof took over the post of Prime Minister. The Dutch solution is also being treated as a model for a possible FPÖ-ÖVP coalition because the outgoing Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) not with election winner Herbert Kickl (FPÖ) wants to sit in a government.