Switzerland will have to adopt parts of the new EU asylum policy
Published: Wednesday, Dec 20th 2023, 17:00
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As a Schengen/Dublin member, Switzerland will have to adopt parts of the reform of EU migration and asylum policy. Representatives of the EU member states and the EU Parliament reached a provisional agreement on Wednesday. However, both EU bodies still have to give their final approval to the compromise.
Switzerland welcomes the thrust of the reforms at EU level, wrote the State Secretariat for Migration (Sem) at the request of the Keystone-SDA news agency. For example, the "principle of shared responsibility" in the form of the solidarity mechanism will be enshrined in European law for the first time.
Switzerland had already been committed to this in the past. The same applies to the observance of fundamental and human rights as well as efficient and fair procedures at the external borders.
Binding elements
However, according to the authorities, only those points that are considered a further development of the Schengen and Dublin acquis are legally binding for Switzerland.
These included the new rules of responsibility in the regulation on the management of asylum and migration as well as the new version of the EU biometric database Eurodac, the report continued.
The main aim here is to reduce secondary migration within the Schengen area and make the Dublin system more crisis-resistant. "This is in Switzerland's interest, as it is also affected by irregular migration," as Sem wrote.
Non-binding innovations
According to the authorities, however, Switzerland is not bound by the new solidarity mechanism or the new, faster procedures at the EU's external borders. It could "participate voluntarily". However, this would have to be "decided at a political level", the Sem continued. In 2016, Switzerland voluntarily participated in the EU's refugee relocation system.
It is currently difficult to predict what the specific impact of this reform will be at European level and in relation to Switzerland, the authorities write. Implementation of the reforms is planned for 2026 and 2027.
©Keystone/SDA
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