The Greens will support the EU migration deal in the upcoming negotiations if they see it ‘improving’ the European asylum process but shied away from a rebellion against its leadership’s pragmatic course at a party conference on Saturday.
Two weeks ago, EU interior ministers agreed to hold asylum-seekers from certain countries in facilities at the EU’s external borders while their claims are being processed. While the German government supported the deal, the Greens, part of the governing coalition, faced internal controversies over its human rights standards.
At a party conference on Saturday, they now averted further tensions within the government as delegates voted to back the joint position proposed by the party leadership, many of whom reluctantly supported the migration deal.
“Our [approval] of the ensuing legislative acts will depend on the extent to which they are an improvement to the European asylum system and for Europe as a whole,” the party’s final declaration reads.
The Greens thus shied away from an open confrontation and overall backed the controversial decision of their leadership that agreed to the deal in the negotiations between EU member states.
The deal would have been “worse without the involvement of the Greens and Green members of the government in particular,” the paper argued. A more critical, competing proposal that named explicit conditions for the Greens’ approval was rejected.
The joint position resulted from tedious negotiations between proponents and critics of the migration deal. The party’s hopes now rest on the upcoming trilogue negotiations between the Council, the European Parliament and the Commission over the final shape of the legislation. The Greens vowed to use the format to “campaign for improvements”.
“It’s not over yet. It’s important that the Greens achieve improvements to asylum policies in the trilogue negotiations. Families with children do not belong in border camps, and further restrictions need to be prevented,” Rasmus Andresen, a leading Green MEP and vocal critic of the deal, tweeted after the party conference.
(Nick Alipour | EURACTIV.de)
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