Radio Schuman - The European Council’s paradigm shift on migration

The European Council’s paradigm shift on migration

10/18/24 • 14 min

The high-stakes European Council summit concluded on Thursday, with migration policy dominating the agenda.

For the first time, leaders discussed so-called "return hubs" — centres in third countries where migrants within the EU, whose asylum claims have been rejected and cannot be repatriated, would be held.

This, along with discussions around the European Union's asylum and migration pact, set to be implemented in 2026, signalled that leaders were potentially radically rethinking how the bloc approaches migration.

However, final council conclusions made no mention of return hubs, and failed to provide a timeline for the EU's new migration pact.

Leaders did, however, call on the European Commission to propose new legislation on deporting rejected asylum seekers still residing in the EU, and supported Poland's call to give nation states the right to temporarily suspend asylum applications.

In a first, Ursula von der Leyen suggested that temporary and proportionate measures might be legally feasible

Also on the podcast, Radio Schuman looks at the first ever far-right Patriots of Europe pre-summit meeting with exclusive sound bites from Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders.

Finally, we ask where in Europe do people say they are the happiest? Spoiler alert: high rates of happiness tend to correlate with the amount of sun.

Radio Schuman is hosted and produced by Maïa de la Baume, with journalist and production assistant Eleonora Vasques, audio editing by Zacharia Vigneron and music by Alexandre Jas.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The high-stakes European Council summit concluded on Thursday, with migration policy dominating the agenda.

However, final council conclusions made no mention of return hubs, and failed to provide a timeline for the EU's new migration pact.

In a first, Ursula von der Leyen suggested that temporary and proportionate measures might be legally feasible

Also on the podcast, Radio Schuman looks at the first ever far-right Patriots of Europe pre-summit meeting with exclusive sound bites from Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders.

Finally, we ask where in Europe do people say they are the happiest? Spoiler alert: high rates of happiness tend to correlate with the amount of sun.

Radio Schuman is hosted and produced by Maïa de la Baume, with journalist and production assistant Eleonora Vasques, audio editing by Zacharia Vigneron and music by Alexandre Jas.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Previous Episode

The European Council Meets In Brussels Today : A Shift To The Right On Migration?

In today’s European Council, EU leaders will discuss mainly Ukraine, the Middle East, and migration.

In particular, there is the implementation of the €50 billion loan agreed at the G7 and call for a ceasefire in Gaza, the release of hostages, continued humanitarian aid, and an end to Israel's attacks on UNIFIL in Lebanon.

However, migration will be the summit's key issue, especially the bloc's Migration and Asylum Pact, set to be enforced by 2026.

Some EU countries, under pressure from rising anti-immigration sentiment, have reintroduced temporary border controls. Leaders are expected to focus on to focus on migrants whose asylum claims are rejected, with proposals for return hubs and stronger return policies under consideration.

Today Euronews's Maria Psara brings us into the summit.

The second part of Radio Schuman is dedicated to other minor points up for discussion and some agenda points in Brussels to keep in mind.

And in the last part of the show, there's a report about how Gen Z seems to be faring in the workplace. Key point: results indicate that many companies are not very happy with recent graduate hires.

Radio Schuman is hosted and produced by Maïa de la Baume, with journalist and production assistant Eleonora Vasques, audio editing by Zacharia Vigneron and music by Alexandre Jas.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Next Episode

Externalizing Migration Does Not Work, Says Liberal MEP Abir Al Sahlani

The current migration debate is largely dominated by EU countries seeking to delegate migration management outside European territory, making borders increasingly impenetrable for asylum seekers and intensifying the return of migrants to their countries of origin.

But some countries including Spain or Belgium have also opposed the idea of outsourcing irregular migration and building migrant centres in non-EU countries.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said in a news conference after the European Council summit last week that he rejected Italy's model of processing asylum claims in centers built outside of the EU, saying it created more trouble than solutions. Instead, he pledged for a more humane approach to migration, which could also support the pensions of declining European populations.

Today Al-Sahlani talked with Radio Schuman, and echoed the same sentiment. She criticised von der Leyen for being complicit with a group of countries that push for migration offshoring and condemned the lack of a clear commitment in the Council’s outcomes regarding the implementation of the first EU migration and asylum package, which was approved during the last legislative term.

A quick overview of the Agriculture and Fisheries meeting, where EU ministers are set to make some important decisions on Monday and Tuesday.

Also a look at the state of play of Italy-Albania deal. It seems that the centre still does not host anyone for the moment, because of an Italian court judgments did not confirmed the detentions.

On the last part of the show, we looked at why airlines are cutting their first-class - spoiler alert, they are commercialising an alternative.

Today's Radio Schuman is hosted by Shona Murray, and produced by Maïa de la Baume, with journalist and production assistant Eleonora Vasques. Audio editing by Zacharia Vigneron and Georgios Leivaditis. Music by Alexandre Jas.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.