The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, emphasized this Friday, at the end of the summit of heads of State and Government of the European Union, the importance of "close coordination and cooperation" within the Schengen area without borders when making decisions such as the extraordinary regularization carried out in Spain, given that, although they are national competences, they can have repercussions on the entire community territory.
"Decisions to regularize irregular migrants are a national competence, but, like other national decisions, they can have a cross-border impact. And for that reason, close coordination and cooperation in the Schengen area is very important," she stated at a press conference at the close of the European Council in Brussels, after being questioned about the criticisms that countries like Denmark, the Czech Republic, or Austria have directed at this meeting towards the migration policy of Pedro Sánchez's Government.
The German conservative leader avoided commenting on a specific measure and insisted that migration constitutes "a European challenge," which, in her opinion, requires seeking "European solutions" and reinforces the need for member States to coordinate when one of them decides to initiate regularization processes.
In this context, the head of the community Executive recalled that there is already a mechanism within the EU to share information about national migration decisions that may have effects beyond their borders and raised the option of "strengthening" that instrument.
"The Commission is ready to support this strengthening," she concluded, without providing further details on how that development could be articulated.
During the debate among the 27 on migration, the Prime Ministers of Italy and Denmark, Giorgia Meloni and Mette Frederiksen, tried to introduce modifications in the conclusions in order to urge Brussels to "explore measures that could encourage coordination" among member States when applying national decisions likely to impact their partners.
According to several European sources, the discussion was "very tough," with several of the 22 countries that, days after the Ceuta crisis, signed a very critical letter to the Spanish Executive resuming their reproaches regarding the extraordinary regularization and its possible pull effect.
"He was isolated, only (the president of France, Emmanuel) Macron lent him a hand," indicated a diplomatic source cited by Europa Press. Other consulted sources specify that, although Macron was firm in his rejection of the stance of Italy and Denmark, other leaders also expressed reservations.