EU’s Michel meets Meloni: Efficient migration management is a priority

European Council chief Charles Michel used his trip to Rome on Thursday (11 April)  to emphasise that migration management, repatriation, and third-country deals will remain a priority.

Following a visit to Rome, where Michel met with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to discuss her priorities for the EU, the European Council president commented on the Migration and Asylum Pact adopted on Wednesday by the European Parliament.

The text will be submitted to the vote of EU countries’ representatives in Brussels in the next couple of weeks, where it is expected to pass despite criticism from some countries such as Hungary.

“It is essential to work together at the European level to address migration. We need better tools, for instance, to facilitate repatriation policies. This will be achievable through the Migration Pact,” Michel said.

“Together with Italy, we are engaging with third countries of origin and transit. We are not alone; we need to involve the rest of the world,” Michel said, echoing what the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the day before.

“We must engage with Tunisia, Egypt, Lebanon, and other countries across the Mediterranean”, he said, recalling last month’s deal with Egypt.

Italy’s government has been very active in looking for a way to halt and reduce the number of irregular arrivals at its borders from the Mediterranean for almost ten years, asking for solidarity from its neighbours, as it was overwhelmed with asylum claims.

Michel is currently drafting a new Strategic Agenda until 2029, with priority areas for all 27 EU countries, and has been touring the EU capitals. After Rome, his tour will take him to Warsaw and Vienna.

Clash in Meloni’s government

Wednesday’s vote in the European Parliament revealed significant divergences within Italy’s ruling majority on migration.

Prime Minister Meloni’s party, Fratelli d’Italia, sitting with the Conservatives (ECR), voted in favour of the texts of the migration pact in seven out of ten votes.

Her stance was supported by Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani, whose Forza Italia, sits with the center-right (EPP). He described the Pact as “the best compromise possible”.

However, the other deputy prime Minister, Matteo Salvini, whose party, Lega, is on the far right of the hemicycle (Lega/ID), blasted the deal.

“A disappointing proposal that does not in any way solve the problem of illegal and clandestine flows, leaving Italy alone once again,” said an Instagram post by Lega.

Asked about the possibility of former Italian prime minister Mario Draghi getting a senior position in the European institutions, Michel, who chairs the negotiations between all member states to name top job holders after June’s EU elections, dodged the answer.

Extending recovery fund deadlines

He also commented on the possibility of an extended deadline beyond 2026 for the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), following the recent request by the country’s Minister of Economy and Finance Giancarlo Giorgetti.

“There are options for extension” of the deadlines “through certain procedures,” but “I do not want to give premature judgments or anticipate,” Michel said.

Because it is “a debate that must take place in the European Commission and the Council,” he said.

As previously reported by Euractiv, despite several challenges member states face in implementing projects on time under the EU Recovery Fund, the European Commission insists on the agreed 2026 deadline, stressing the fund’s “temporary” nature.

[Edited by Charles Szumski/Aurélie Pugnet]

Read more with Euractiv