The report on the Migration Pact has been removed from the European Commission’s agenda for this week, according to Polish sources in the European Parliament. The package was supposed to include, among other things, a list of countries currently under migratory pressure.
According to the implementation schedule of the Migration Pact, the European Commission was expected to adopt by October 15 a decision determining whether a given Member State is under migratory pressure, at risk of such pressure, or facing a serious migratory situation.
The package of decisions from the European Commission was also expected to include a report on asylum and migration, as well as a proposal for establishing a solidarity pool.
A few days ago, media outlets unofficially reported that the European Commission was considering exempting Poland from the migrant relocation mechanism and the associated financial burdens. The reason is said to be the enormous number of refugees from Ukraine whom Poland has taken in since 2022. It should be noted that the Migration Pact is intended to be implemented permanently, while any exemption from migrant relocation for a given country would only apply for a specified period. This means that even if Poland is temporarily excluded from the current distribution, in future years relocated illegal migrants could still be sent to the country.
The mandatory solidarity mechanism provides for the possibility of either accepting migrants or making a financial contribution of 20,000 euros per person. It will also be possible to offer operational support to states under migratory pressure, such as assistance with border management, but such support must be targeted and of comparable value to the financial contribution.
President Karol Nawrocki recently protested against the Migration Pact. He sent a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, in which he wrote that Poland will not agree to any actions by European institutions aimed at relocating illegal migrants to its territory, said the president.