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Leaders at E.U. Summit Vow to ‘Regain Control’ of Borders Leaders at E.U. Summit Vow to ‘Regain Control’ of Borders
(35 minutes later)
BRUSSELS — European leaders vowed on Thursday to “regain control” of the Continent’s external frontiers at their final summit meeting of a year bracketed by lethal terrorist attacks in Paris and convulsed by brutal blows to Europe’s common currency and to its faith in a common destiny without borders. BRUSSELS — European leaders vowed on Thursday to “regain control” of the Continent’s external frontiers at their final summit meeting of 2015, a tumultuous year bracketed by lethal terrorist attacks in Paris and convulsed by destabilizing blows to Europe’s common currency and to its faith in a common destiny without borders.
But the meeting, dominated like seven previous gatherings since May by Europe’s migration crisis, offered no new concrete measures to control and slow an often chaotic influx that has seen more than a million people fleeing war and poverty pour into the Continent this year. But the meeting, dominated like seven previous gatherings since May by Europe’s migration crisis, offered no new concrete measures to control and slow an often chaotic influx of asylum seekers that has seen more than a million people fleeing war and poverty pour into the Continent this year.
Instead, leaders promised only to act on previous decisions, including a promise made in November to give Turkey more than $3.2 billion, in return for help on stemming the flow. They declined to endorse proposals for a new border and Coast Guard service, with a joint final statement on migration saying only that they would “rapidly examine” them later. Instead, leaders promised only to act on previous decisions, including measures to try to ensure the systematic registration and security checks of asylum seekers and a November promise to give Turkey more than $3.2 billion in return for help on stemming the flow.
There was also no sign of significant progress on averting what, in coming months, could well be the biggest threat yet to the process of European integration — the prospect that Britain might pull out of the 28-nation European Union. There was also no sign of a breakthrough to avert what, in coming months, could well be the biggest threat yet to the process of European integration: the prospect that Britain might pull out of the 28-nation European Union.
“The four horsemen of the apocalypse are circling,” said Charles Grant, director of the Center for European Reform, a research group based in London, referring to the security threat raised by a newly assertive Russia, the chaotic influx of asylum seekers, Greece’s calmed but far-from-solved financial crisis and Britain’s future direction. Speaking late Thursday in Brussels, Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain, who has pledged to hold a referendum on the country’s membership of the bloc by 2017, said “there is now a pathway to an agreement” that would keep Britain from bolting but added that “it will be very hard work.”
The European Union, Mr. Grant said, has faced periods of severe turbulence in the past without long-term damage, notably in 1992, when Britain and Italy pulled out of an arrangement intended to limit currency fluctuations and Danish voters rejected a landmark European treaty in a referendum. “But this year’s is probably worse,” he added. Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, the body that sets the agenda for such summit meetings and is expected to hammer out compromises, described it as a “make-or-break” moment in efforts to keep Britain in the bloc.
Europe has maintained an unexpected degree of unity in response to Moscow’s annexation of Crimea in March last year and, after months of bruising negotiation over a bailout, managed in July to prevent Greece from crashing out of the eurozone. But its failure to stem the flow of migrants has not only threatened one of Europe’s proudest achievements, the 26-nation Schengen zone of visa-free travel, but also allowed so-called euroskeptics in Britain to exploit the chaos to rally public support for an exit from the union. He said he was “much more optimistic” after discussions over dinner between Mr. Cameron and other leaders, but he made clear that some of London’s demands, notably its desire to curb benefits for Europeans who move to Britain, were unacceptable.
Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain, who has pledged to hold a referendum on the country’s membership in the bloc by 2017, has said he wants Britain to stay in the union but only as long as it gets various concessions, including the right to exclude European migrants from some benefits for up to four years. These migrants enter Britain legally, unlike most of the asylum-seekers pouring into Europe, but have become associated in the minds of many Britons with the broader, Europewide mess over migration. “The four horsemen of the apocalypse are circling,” said Charles Grant, director of the Center for European Reform, a research group in London, referring to the security threat raised by a newly assertive Russia, the chaotic influx of asylum seekers, Greece’s calmed but far-from-solved financial crisis and Britain’s future direction.
Speaking in Brussels on Thursday, Mr. Cameron said he wanted to propel his demands to the top of the European agenda. “We’re not pushing for a deal tonight, but we are pushing for real momentum,” Mr. Cameron said ahead of the summit meeting. The European Union, Mr. Grant said, has faced periods of severe turbulence in the past without being derailed, notably in 1992, when Britain and Italy pulled out of an arrangement intended to limit currency fluctuations and Danish voters rejected a landmark European treaty in a referendum. “But this year’s is probably worse,” he added.
How difficult this will be, however, was clear from comments on Thursday by Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, the body that represents European Union leaders, who sets the agenda for such meetings and is expected to hammer out compromises. Europe has maintained an unexpected degree of unity in response to Moscow’s annexation of Crimea last year and, after months of bruising negotiation over a bailout, managed in July to prevent Greece from crashing out of the eurozone. But its failure to stem the flow of migrants has not only threatened one of Europe’s proudest achievements, the 26-nation Schengen zone of visa-free travel, but also allowed so-called euroskeptics in Britain to rally public support for an exit from the union.
Mr. Tusk said that there was “good will” ahead of the discussions with Mr. Cameron scheduled for Thursday evening and that a final deal could come in February. But, in an apparent reference to Mr. Cameron’s demands to restrict benefits to migrants, Mr. Tusk warned that “some parts of the British proposal seem unacceptable.” Mr. Cameron has said he wants Britain to stay in the union but only as long as it gets various concessions, including the right to exclude European migrants to the country from some benefits for up to four years.
In a joint statement issued late Thursday in Brussels, the leaders of four Eastern and Central European nations — the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia — rebuffed Britain’s principal request, vowing to resist any move that “would be discriminatory or limit free movement” within the European Union. Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany said at a news conference that finding a solution for Britain’s demands “will maybe not be all that easy, but I think if each and everyone is of good will we can find a way.” She added that there would be “very important decisions” to make about Britain after a follow-up summit meeting of European Union leaders in February.
The departure of Britain from the bloc would throw into reverse for the first time the so-called European project, a program of integration that began with six countries with the establishment of the European Coal and Steel Community in 1951 and that has since expanded to 28 nations, with several others, like Serbia and Macedonia, eager to join. President François Hollande of France told reporters that changes were possible in response to British demands, but only on condition that they “respect European principles, European rules.” He added: “Britain needs the United Kingdom, and the European Union needs the United Kingdom.”
How difficult it will be to satisfy both British demands and those of other countries was made clear by a joint statement issued Thursday in Brussels, by the leaders of four Central and Eastern European nations: the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. They rebuffed Britain’s principal request, the right to curb benefits, vowing to resist any move that “would be discriminatory or limit free movement” within the European Union.
The departure of Britain from the bloc would throw into reverse for the first time the so-called European project, a program of integration that began with six countries with the establishment of the European Coal and Steel Community in 1951 and that has since expanded to 28 nations, with several others eager to join.
The issue of whether Britain stays or goes, Mr. Grant said, “is the most difficult of all the E.U.’s crises because it ultimately depends on British voters,” over whose decision other countries in the bloc have no control and little influence.The issue of whether Britain stays or goes, Mr. Grant said, “is the most difficult of all the E.U.’s crises because it ultimately depends on British voters,” over whose decision other countries in the bloc have no control and little influence.
The biggest immediate threat to European integration, however, is a migration crisis that has led a number of European leaders to warn in recent weeks that the union could unravel if it does not overcome acrimonious bickering among states.The biggest immediate threat to European integration, however, is a migration crisis that has led a number of European leaders to warn in recent weeks that the union could unravel if it does not overcome acrimonious bickering among states.
Mark Rutte, the Dutch prime minister, warned last month that the union must secure its external borders. “As we all know from the Roman Empire, big empires go down if the borders are not well protected,” said Mr. Rutte, whose country takes over the bloc’s rotating presidency in January. Ms. Merkel, under pressure at home in Germany and increasingly frustrated by Europe’s failure to get a grip on the crisis, said Thursday that visa-free travel within Europe, secure external borders and control of migrant flows “are absolutely interlinked, and that these are issues that are relevant to the very existence of the European Union.”
Such fears hung over the last scheduled summit meeting of this year, which will continue through Friday. Its main focus was how to get Greece and Italy to regain control of their coastlines before public services in Germany, the final destination of most asylum seekers, are overwhelmed and before the crisis further fuels populist anti-European political movements in Britain and elsewhere. Mark Rutte, the Dutch prime minister, warned last month of the risks if the union does not secure its external borders. “As we all know from the Roman Empire, big empires go down if the borders are not well protected,” he said.
Reinforcing the bloc’s external borders is also a priority for France, since two of the participants in last month’s terrorist attacks in Paris posed as refugees to enter the European Union through Greece. Those terrorists moved undetected inside the bloc before carrying out attacks at the other end of the Continent. Such fears hung over the last scheduled summit meeting of this year, which will continue through Friday with discussion on energy policy, Europe’s common currency and whether to keep in place economic sanctions imposed on Russia over its military meddling in Ukraine.
Despite the gravity of the migration crisis, the European Union’s leadership is still trying to improvise solutions, and there was little sign that the 28 member countries would be able to reach a unified approach that would safeguard the Schengen rules cherished by many Europeans while limiting the arrival and movement of migrants at the outer edges of the bloc. The main focus on Thursday was how to get Greece and Italy to regain control of their coastlines before public services in Germany, the final destination of most asylum seekers, are overwhelmed and before the crisis further fuels populist anti-European political movements.
Ahead of the meeting on Thursday, the bloc still appeared splintered as a limited group of European Union leaders — including Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and Chancellor Werner Faymann of Austria — met with Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu of Turkey to discuss a plan to resettle in Europe migrants now sheltering in Turkey. “It’s an uphill battle but we have to keep at it,” said Ms. Merkel, referring to the various European efforts to curb the flow of migrants from the Middle East and Africa.
That resettlement plan represents a concession to Turkey, as it deals with the roughly 2.2 million migrants on its territory. Many migrants seeking to reach wealthier northern European countries leave from Turkey on boats for Greece. Reinforcing the bloc’s external borders is also a priority for France, since two of the participants in last month’s terrorist attacks in Paris posed as refugees to enter the European Union through Greece.
The plan would be voluntary because the majority of European Union member states appear to be unwilling to take part and would apply only to a fraction of the migrants in Turkish camps. Despite the gravity of the migration crisis, the European Union’s leadership is still trying to improvise solutions, and enforce previously agreed-upon measures. “All the elements of a strategy are there, but there is still a delivery deficit,” Mr. Tusk, the president of the European Council, acknowledged.
European Union governments are still discussing ways to fund the money promised to Turkey in November to improve living conditions for migrants in Turkey so that they stay put instead of heading for Europe.
The arrangements with Turkey are under close scrutiny from groups like Amnesty International, a human rights organization, which has accused the Turkish authorities of abusing migrants. The group has called for a suspension of migration-related cooperation with Turkey.
An effort announced in May by the European Union authorities to relocate tens of thousands of people from Greece and Italy to other countries in the bloc has failed to gain much traction, with only 208 people moved so far.An effort announced in May by the European Union authorities to relocate tens of thousands of people from Greece and Italy to other countries in the bloc has failed to gain much traction, with only 208 people moved so far.
With that plan stillborn, the European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, is pushing a new one to take control of border and coastal security at entry points for migrants in countries like Greece and Italy. But the new border system proposed this week could get bogged down in arduous procedures involving national governments and the European Parliament. That risks further highlighting the bloc’s seeming inability to respond rapidly to crises. With that plan stillborn, the European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, announced a new plan this week to take control of border and coastal security at entry points for migrants in countries like Greece and Italy. But a new border system is unlikely to take shape any time soon, as it touches on delicate issues like national sovereignty and could get bogged down in arduous procedures involving national governments and the European Parliament. That risks further highlighting the bloc’s seeming inability to respond rapidly to crises.
The border proposals already face opposition in countries like Poland, where some politicians suspect a blunt power grab by Brussels intended to diminish national sovereignty, even as leaders of those countries push to save the right of their own workers to move freely in the bloc. Leaders did not give a green light on Thursday to the Commission’s proposals for a new border and coast guard service, but they did issue a joint final statement on migration saying that governments would “rapidly examine” them and aim to reach a deal by the middle of next year.
Germany has taken the opposite position, arguing that protection of external borders, especially those in Greece, cannot be achieved without some form of command and control from Brussels. The border proposals already face opposition in countries like Poland, where some suspect a power grab by Brussels intended to diminish national sovereignty, even as those countries push to save their own workers’ right to move freely in the bloc.
Germany has taken the opposite position, arguing that protection of external borders, especially those in Greece, cannot be achieved without some form of control from Brussels.
All agree, however, on the need to secure Europe’s often porous outer borders. “For the integrity of Schengen to be safeguarded it is indispensable to regain control over the external borders,” the leaders’ statement said.