This Wednesday afternoon in Tourcoing in Hauts-de-France, Emmanuel Macron will participate in a meeting with all the Ministers of the Interior and Justice of the 27 European countries in order to announce the reform of the European migration pact, but above all of the Schengen area. Because the Head of State considers that Schengen is “dead”. Among the measures desired by the Head of State, the fact that the European Commission facilitates the principle of “non-admission”. In particular, it could very largely settle the migration problems in Europe and even if that seems very technical, it is an extremely effective tool.
Facilitate the principle of “no admission”
Today, as soon as a migrant arrives on French territory, administrative procedures are automatically triggered and it is almost impossible to expel him. Hence the Calais migration problem. What Emmanuel Macron therefore wants to change is that any migrant intercepted on our soil – for example, 10 kilometers from the German border – may be considered, that is the term, as “not admitted”. That is to say that France considers that he never set foot on the territory.
Concretely, this migrant will be handed over immediately to the German authorities. And by extension, Germany will be able to do the same thing afterwards with its neighbors. The idea is to better empower the countries that hold our external borders, in particular the countries of southern Europe such as Spain and Italy. But this measure presupposes that the European Union more easily authorizes the re-establishment of border controls within the Schengen area itself. Whereas today, a country must justify itself if it does so: it may be an imminent terrorist or migratory threat, or even a health crisis.
Measures that speak to the right
Still, a president participating in such a technical European meeting is unheard of, especially to announce fairly firm measures that speak to the right. The stakes are therefore very political for the Head of State. His proposals have a somewhat “magical” side, but they are difficult to implement. They will therefore be able to serve him above all in domestic policy.
Because among the other measures that the Head of State will announce, that demanded by the right for five years, namely the reinforcement of the staff of the Frontex agency – we are talking about 6,500 agents by the end of the year and 10,000 in 2027 – to better control our borders. Then, to better monitor who enters and who leaves Europe, the President will propose the establishment of a biometric file common to all countries – supported a few years ago by Bernard Cazeneuve – again a request from the law.
Finally, according to our information, Emmanuel Macron is already planning to talk about immigration again, but this time, when he is a candidate.