After eight years of stalemate, more deadlocks and compromises., the rise of the far right across Europe has focused the minds of European leaders and compelled them to finally agree, by majority vote, to reform incoherent migration laws across the bloc.
Yet it still hangs in the balance with more than 700 MEPs being asked to vote 10 different bills through.
If passed it will mean fast-tracking of asylum applications and forced returns within as few as 12 weeks, an improvement in what several MEPs have said are dreadful standards in reception centres and alleviate the burden felt by countries like Greece and Italy which in the last year has shouldered responsibility for the majority of people being smuggled across the Mediterranean.
Ylva Johansson, the European commissioner for home affairs, who shepherded the legislative text through its torturous journey since 2016 is convinced it will pass. She admits however that if it does not the laws are in big trouble and it is unlikely that there will be appetite to revisit the matter in the next parliamentary mandate.
Last night it looked as if the Greens (72 of 705 seats), some socialists and some members of the centre right grouping in the European People’s Party in both Poland and France would be voting against some of the files.
Politicians in the far right groups including Alternative for Germany, Vox and National Rally have already been “discounted”.
The debate starts around 2pm Brussels time with votes at 5pm.
Key events
Cornelia Ernst, a German MEP from the Left group, called the regulations on the table a pact of shame and disgrace.
Beata Szydło, from Poland’s Law and Justice, criticised the pact, arguing that it proposes the wrong solutions.
There are the 10 bills on which the European parliament is voting today.
Solidarity and responsibility
The asylum and migration management solidarity mechanism involves relocation of asylum seekers to other member states if the first country of arrival is overwhelmed as Italy was last year.
Critics say it will little to do alleviate the burden on countries like Italy because the Dublin regulation which obliges asylum applications to be processed in the first country of arrival has not been reformed sufficiently. Under a replacement rule, migrants with family in another member state can file for asylum in that country.
This is one of the bills that is likely to garner least support. Poland and Hungary have always opposed it.
Crisis times
This puts in mechanisms to avoid a sudden influx of people, or a repeat of the crisis of 2015 when more than 1m people arrived by water and land to Europe, mostly from war-torn Syria.
It will also creates mechanisms for the exploitation of people, who are placed on borders of Europe by hostile actors, such as Russia.
Screening of third country nationals
This allows for screening at the border with criminal record checks, biometric data collection along with health checks for up to 7 days. This seems safe.
Fast tracking asylum procedures
At committee stage this package of laws was confirmed by 40 votes in favour, 23 against and 4 abstentions. So it would also appear to be safe.
Eurodac database
Provides all member states to maintain and share data on all who arrive in the EU including children from six years old. Some on the left and the Greens don’t like this but likely to sail through as those on the right are in favour.
Uniform asylum procedures
This will address issues some on the right had about member states “transposing” laws on asylum rights in ineffective ways.
Reception centres
This is aimed to create minimum uniform standards at reception centres and accommodation including health care and housing. Registered asylum applicants should also be allowed to work soon to accelerate integration.
Safety and resettlement
This is to allow states to offer protection for the most vulnerable refugees living in third countries, identified in most cases by the UNHCR.
Martin Schirdewan, on behalf of the Left group, said that the pact would take away the right to protection for those who need it.
Frecnh MEP Jordan Bardella, on behalf of the far-right Identity and Democracy Group, said the group will oppose the pact.
Nicola Procaccini, on behalf of the European Conservatives and Reformists, said that there are a few steps in the right direction.
We have to put an end to ships leaving the coast, we have to work with countries of origin and decide who can come into Europe and who cannot, he argued.
Saskia Bricmont, on behalf of the Greens, told MEPs they are about to give in to the far-right.
This pact does not give any answers to better managing the inflows or putting an end to smuggling, she said, calling the text fortress Europe.
It’s better to have no deal than a bad deal, she argued.
Malik Azmani, on behalf of the Renew Europe group, said it’s a historic moment.
He said he understands the emotions, but stressed the need to assume responsibility.
A vote against is a vote for the status quo.
The pact is not ideal, he said, but it’s a step in the right direction.
Gabriele Bischoff, on behalf of the Socialists and Democrats group, said the pact will not solve everything but is better than the status quo.
There are points that are painful for us, she conceded. But if Europe is not capable of action on this matter, those who want to divide us will benefit, she said, asking MEPs to support the pact and see that it is seriously and responsibly implemented.
MEP Jeroen Lenaers, on behalf of the European people’s party, said the pact is an important first step.
A vote against it is a vote for maintaining the current situation, for the business model of human traffickers - a vote is favour is a vote for the status quote, he argued.
Ylva Johansson, the home affairs commissioner, told MEPs that when migration policy fails, human beings pay the price.
The pact will help us protect people, protect borders and manage migration in an orderly way, she argued.
The political agreement on the table is a true compromise, she said, noting the vote will be a close one.
History is watching, and our voters are watching, Johansson stressed.
Now is the time to take responsibility, she said. Now, the decision is in your hands, she told the legislators.
MEP Sophie in ‘t Veld said the European Commission will have to do a lot more to convince MEPs that it will enforce the new pact. She criticised a deal with Tunisia, and said the parliament needs to hold the Commission to account.
The far-right will be voting against the pact because it feeds on chaos the issue, she argued. If we reject the pact, there will be nothing in its place – there is no better alternative, the MEP argued.
We need to prove the cynics wrong, she stressed, and take responsibility.
Europe is at a turning point, said Slovenian MEP Matjaž Nemec, from the Socialists and Democrats group. He said that in the standards for the qualification of third-country nationals or stateless persons as beneficiaries of international protection, a part of the package, the definition of family was expanded.
Beneficiaries will be treated equally, and unaccompanied minors will be entitled to more protection and safeguards, he said.
Often lost in the debate about migration in Brussels are the desperate circumstances which people leave to make a journey of hope to Europe.
More than 3,000 lost their lives in the Mediterranean last year.
Today the perils of making the crossing organised by criminal gangs has hit home once again.
Rescuers on the eastern Greek island of Chios on Wednesday searched for at least three people believed missing after a boat carrying migrants from nearby Turkey hit rocks, officials said.
Fourteen people, including eight children, were rescued by the coast guard off rugged coasts on the northeast of the island, some 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) from Turkey. Three men were later found ashore, Associated Press has reported.
Coast guard officials said three patrol vessels were looking for other possible survivors, while at least three people were reported missing by the rescued migrants. The boat has not been located.
Greek islands in the eastern Aegean Sea are a common entry point into the European Union for migrants using Turkey-based smuggling networks in waters patrolled by the EU border protection agency Frontex.