Commission eyes extra migration restrictions in bid for right wing support

European Union Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson said the Commission will propose changes to the EU’s visa regime within July, according to two letters addressed to member states and seen by Euractiv, sent at the time Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is hunting for votes for reelection from the right.

The solutions posed in the letters, dated 9 July, appear to respond to concerns expressed by EU countries over irregular migration and border clashes on the bloc’s eastern frontier.

“In July, the Commission will issue (…) relevant proposals for visa measures under Article 25a of the Visa Code,” Johansson writes about a provision that allows the suspension of certain visa privileges for countries that do not accept the return of their nationals that arrive in the EU. 

The letters also coincide with Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s push for her reelection ahead of Thursday’s (18 July) plenary vote, where she will count on support from every side of the spectrum, including the right, which has migration as a core focus.

In addition, Johansson calls for “swift progress” in the negotiations on the revised visa suspension mechanism. It “will allow to reduce irregular migration by addressing the high number of unfounded asylum claims from visa-free countries, making the mechanism easier to trigger and more effective in its deterrence,” she writes. 

 Visa revisions

This revision, which will allow EU countries to put the brakes on any visa policy in times of emergency, has been in the pipeline for some time.

While the Commission presented the proposal in October 2023, the member states had called for a list of grounds to suspend visas, including “a significant and abrupt deterioration in the Union’s external relations with a third country”.

In their May letter, ministers complained that “many asylum applications in the EU are made by persons from visa-exempt countries or persons with a Schengen visa”.

In her letter, Johansson also echoes von der Leyen’s desire to expand efforts to conclude additional agreements with third countries.

Under the previous von der Leyen Commission, the latter came under fire from NGOs and left-wing political forces for establishing partnerships with Tunisia and Egypt, which were largely seen as part of the EU’s efforts to prevent migrants from reaching its borders.

In May, member states called on the Commission to build “on models like the Italy-Albania Protocol” – a model whereby Italy ‘externalises’ the asylum claims of migrants rescued by the Italian coastguard in international waters.

Last month, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen hinted that the idea would be considered during her possible second term, Euractiv reported.

Migration proved to be a divisive political issue in the previous mandate, with von der Leyen having tried to strike a balance with the right on migration issues, especially since announcing her reelection bid.

Although the coalition that supported her mandate under her previous mandate still holds more than half the seats in the Assembly, the majority has shrunk.

Von der Leyen is, therefore, counting on the support of the Greens and the more conservative, right-wing, anti-migration MEPs of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s conservative group, ECR.

Money for border surveillance

In response to calls to step up the fight against the instrumentalisation of migrants, the Commission will also launch a €150 million call for proposals for the EU’s “border surveillance capacity”.  

The money will come from the thematic facility of the Border Management and Visa Instrument.

Most recently, Finland allowed the sending of migrants to third countries under pressure from organised migration from Russia. The Baltic states and Poland also called for a line of defence against “hybrid threats”. 

“Member States will be authorised to derogate from certain rules provided for in EU asylum law, such as to have a longer duration of the border procedure and an extension of its scope”, Johansson writes in the second letter, adding that instrumentalisation “should be recognised as a threat to our security”. 

In their June letter, the countries call for “legislative initiatives that allow for the use of sufficiently broad national security derogations in situations of border security.”  

[Edited by Aurélie Pugnet, Daniel Eck/Alice Taylor]  

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