European Parliament Head Urges Against 'Consensus At All Costs' On Asylum System

The European Union should not try to reach a consensus on asylum system reform "at all costs," but strive for a majority vote instead; an alternative, such as investment in Africa should be offered to countries that do not want to take

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th October, 2018) The European Union should not try to reach a consensus on asylum system reform "at all costs," but strive for a majority vote instead; an alternative, such as investment in Africa should be offered to countries that do not want to take refugees in, President of the European Parliament Antonio Tajani said Thursday.

"I told EU leaders that the stalemate on asylum reform is a gift to populists and europhobes. A system that fairly distributes asylum seekers among all countries is needed now. We must not be hostages to consensus at all costs: we must vote by majority," Tajani said on Twitter.

The European Parliament president added that contributions to an African investment fund could become an alternative for "recalcitrant EU Member States" and thus help "unblock the asylum system reform stalemate.

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Tajani cited the example of EU-Niger cooperation that helped reduce the inflow of migrants to Libya and Italy by 80 percent.

'The system works, but both African and Balkan countries will not accept reception centres without asylum seeker reform that guarantees their distribution among all EU countries," Tajani said.

The European Union has been facing a large influx of migrants in the last few years. Under EU quota scheme, member states have to take in a certain number of refugees each. However, several countries have opposed the scheme.