New Italian Gov't Likely To End Confrontation With EU On Migrants, Open Ports For Refugees

The new Italian government is most likely to begin working with the European Union and reversing some of the anti-migration regulations introduced by the previous government, which included the right-wing Lega party, experts told Sputnik

GENOA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 06th September, 2019) The new Italian government is most likely to begin working with the European Union and reversing some of the anti-migration regulations introduced by the previous government, which included the right-wing Lega party, experts told Sputnik.

The new government was sworn in on Thursday, ending several weeks of a political crisis that started when Matteo Salvini, Lega party leader and the deputy prime minister and interior minister at the time, called for snap elections, and Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte resigned instead. This marked the end of Lega's coalition with anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S). After arduous negotiations, M5S and the Democratic Party (PD), which were previously political rivals, agreed to form a government, pushing Lega out of all ministerial positions.

"It [the new government] will be opening to Europe, with an approach that is less confrontational to the refugee issue. This is my expectation. I am sure there will be an improvement in that. Salvini was most confrontational. There are possibilities to improve cooperation with Europe," Tito Boeri, professor at Bocconi University, former president of the Italian Social Security Administration and former consultant to the Italian government, told Sputnik.

From his point of view, the new government will not carry out broad migration reform but may ease some administrative regulations.

"I do expect that some changes will be done. There are a number of things that could be done in legal terms by reforming laws, and other things can also be done by simple administrative changes, so no need to have new laws, which may be rather controversial and difficult in the current juncture. My expectation is that they [M5S-PD] are not going to make broad reform of migration policies, but what they are going to do is to act on the administrative rules," Boeri continued.

According to the expert, the new coalition could take steps to regularize personal caretaker services (so-called "badanti" in Italian) and introduce realistic "flow decrees" that legalize entry for non-EU workers coming in for seasonal work.

Luca Barana, a researcher at the Italian Institute of International Affairs specializing in EU relations with Africa and migration policies, echoed Boeri, saying that the new government would revise some aspects of the previous cabinet's migration policy. The expert suggested Italy may open ports for ships with refugees.

"It is possible that the most 'vocal' policies of Salvini, such as the closed ports policy, will be dropped. But at the same time, we must remember that the M5S is pretty ambivalent on migration and the PD was at the forefront of a restrictive policy under [Marco] Minniti's tenure as the interior minister [served from 2016 to 2018, well known for cutting migration to Italy].

I don't expect an 'open doors' policy, maybe something more on integration," Barana told Sputnik.

Since June 2018, Salvini, in his capacity as interior minister, conducted the policy of "closed ports" to prevent rescues ships carrying migrants from docking in Italy. He has also introduced the Security Decree, a law that toughens sanctions against non-government groups and charities that seek to bring African migrants saved in the Mediterranean Sea to Italy.

"I think it is highly likely that [the Security Decree] will be changed: doubts remain on how deep the changes will run," Barana said.

As for relations with the European Union, Salvini took a hard-line approach, asking Brussels to coordinate migrant redistribution among EU member states.

"In this field, it is likely that Italy will keep pushing for some kind of redistribution of migrants among the EU member states, and the connection with the Visegrad group [of central European countries], which was established by Salvini, will be lost," Barana said.

The expert believed that the new cabinet would intensify cooperation with the countries of migrants' origin and transit nations, an effort abandoned under Salvini.

"At first glance, it seems that previous policies, aimed at deepening relations with countries of origin and transit countries in Africa, may be relaunched: this was a specific trait of Minniti's Ministry, which greatly contributed to the drop in arrivals. Salvini, on the other hand, seemed less interested in this aspect, at least publicly," he continued.

Barana also noted that the appointment of Luciana Lamorgese, a former prefect of Milan who does not belong to any political party, as the new interior minister demonstrated the new government's wish to depoliticize the migration issue.

"The choice of a technical personality for the Interior Ministry seems aimed at de-politicizing the issue of migration, that proved to be highly polarizing in the public debate in latest years," Barana said.

PD and M5S has issued a preliminary 26-point policy program that includes migration as one of the major focuses. It claims that a strong European response to the problem of managing migration flows must be found, including through special legislation that pursues the fight against illegal migration but also addresses matters related to migrants' integration.