German-Italian riff thwarts EU deal on new rules to deal with migration crises

A disagreement between Germany and Italy frustrated on Thursday a highly anticipated deal on the last piece of the European Union's migration reform.

Transcript

00:00 EU countries say they are very close to striking a deal on how to manage sudden massive arrivals

00:07 of migrants in Europe.

00:09 The so-called crisis regulation as it`s being called allows member states to quickly admit

00:13 people in need of international protection, but also extends the deadlines to fast-track

00:18 asylum applications.

00:21 Not all countries are on board, though.

00:23 During the negotiations, Italy and Germany clashed about a reference to NGO vessels.

00:28 But the Spanish EU presidency is still confident of reaching an agreement.

00:33 (In Spanish)

00:34 These are matter of nuance, which often take a little longer to close and to reach an agreement.

00:40 But it`s a matter of the 27, and I`m convinced that in the next few days we will be able

00:49 to reach that total agreement.

00:51 This is the last missing piece to be agreed among member states when it comes to the EU`s

00:56 migration pact, which is the reform of migratory policy proposed by the European Commission

01:00 in 2020.

01:03 EU countries already agreed measures to change the asylum system, aimed at alleviating pressure

01:08 on front-line member states like Italy and Greece.

01:11 Once everything is eventually agreed, the council will have to negotiate the entire

01:15 migration pact with the European Parliament, where positions vary massively.

01:20 One point being that some member states don`t consider mandatory relocations among the EU

01:24 countries a solution to a crisis situation.

01:27 But the parliament is insisting on this point.

01:29 Yes, I know that there`s reluctance, that there are resistance.

01:32 But yes, the pro-European majority in the European Parliament has made it clear in our

01:38 mandate for negotiation that we want, in situations of crisis, mandatory relocation programs,

01:46 which is the European scale of response in a situation as the one which is enduring now,

01:51 Lampedusa.

01:52 The EU aims to reach an agreement on the migration pact before the end of the year.

01:58 Individual member states won`t have a right to veto it if they disagree, since the decision

02:02 will be taken by a qualified majority of EU countries.

02:05 You're staying clear of the...

02:07 (audience laughing)