After years of bickering, EU claims breakthrough in migration talks
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00:00 A major policy breakthrough after years of divisive debates.
00:03 The European Union reaches a deal to revamp the way asylum seekers and migrants are hosted
00:08 and relocated.
00:09 Sweden, which holds the rotating presidency of the EU Council, hailed the significant
00:14 step.
00:15 "Today we have taken a historic step.
00:18 After many years of negotiations, we have today taken this important step towards a
00:25 stable and sustainable legislation on migration."
00:31 The priority for EU countries is to share the hosting of asylum seekers more equitably,
00:36 taking in many that arrive in nations on the bloc's outer rim, mainly Greece and Italy.
00:41 The accord would first ensure that certain asylum seekers get processed immediately at
00:45 the border, and make it easier to return those whose applications are rejected.
00:50 Under the deal, countries will also have to either accept a certain number of asylum seekers,
00:55 and in case of refusal to do so, pay a sum of 20,000 euros per person into a fund managed
01:00 by Brussels.
01:02 But some key details still need to be ironed out, including the issue of where to send
01:06 rejected asylum seekers.
01:08 Expanding the so-called "safe countries" where they can return remains at the heart of the
01:12 debate, with the European Commissioner for Home Affairs saying there's no decision yet.
01:17 The agreement paves the way for difficult negotiations with the EU Parliament and the
01:21 EU Commission to finalise the whole package, ahead of the European elections next June.
01:27 The difficult reform has climbed the bloc's agenda as the number of asylum seekers rises,
01:32 after a pause caused by travel curbs during the COVID pandemic.