EU passes asylum and migration pact after eight years of deadlock

The changes were passed in a knife-edge series of votes in the European parliament on Wednesday. Photograph: John Thys/AFP/Getty Images

Sweeping changes to the EU’s migration laws have been passed in a knife-edge series of votes in the European parliament, with supporters of the new laws calling the move historic but NGOs branding them are step back for human rights.

The vote on Wednesday, which is now expected to be rubber-stamped by the member states, ends eight years of deadlock over repeated efforts to tighten up border management and asylum processes in the 27-member bloc.

It marks a victory for the European Commission and for politicians who had been campaigning to get the legislation passed in the face of a surge in popularity of the far right ahead of the European parliament elections in June.

Roberta Metsola, the European parliament president, wrote on X: “History made. We have delivered a robust legislative framework on how to deal with migration and asylum in the EU. It has been more than ten years in the making. But we kept our word. A balance between solidarity and responsibility. This is the European way.”

However, tensions in the huge auditorium as the voting started betrayed the deeply divisive nature of the laws. Proceedings were interrupted by protesters dressed in white T-shirts in the public gallery, who shouted at MEPs: “This pact kills! Vote ‘no’!” while throwing paper planes into the chamber.

The package was criticised by NGOs, who say the laws are regressive and oppressive, and by right-wing politicians, who have argued they do not go far enough.

Among those that voted against parts of the asylum and migration pact were the French and Spanish far-right parties Rassemblement National and Vox, as well as the Polish nationalist populists Law & Justice, and Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz.

They had earlier denounced the 10-part pact as a licence for people-smugglers and a blow to member states’ sovereignty.

The new laws must now be rubber stamped by European leaders, with opposition guaranteed from Poland’s new prime minister, Donald Tusk. He has said he will not agree to a new law obliging every country in the EU to take its share of people from countries such as Italy if their systems become overwhelmed.

Stephanie Pope, Oxfam’s expert on EU migration, said on Tuesday the package had little to do with the human rights of desperate people and more to do with “deterrents, detention and deportation”.

The legislation was “very political and zero evidence based”, she added.