European political parties and immigration, which direction are we going?
In the electoral campaign for the European elections of 6-9 June, immigration played a leading role in the party programmes. All European political parties have chosen to put the issue of managing migratory flows towards the European Union among the priorities of their agendas in view of the next legislature.
“Our Europe protects its borders from illegal immigration”, is the title of the chapter on migration chosen by the European People’s Party (EPP) in its manifesto for the 2024 European elections. The People’s Party, traditionally more moderate, has taken more positions restrictive and right-leaning on the issue. The European Socialist Party (PES) defends the new European pact and promotes a migration policy in continuity with that of the previous five years.“The Pact on Asylum and Migration finally distances the European Union from crisis management, its implementation must translate into a fair, safe and predictable approach, based on respect for human rights and the dignity of people,” we read in the programmatic manifesto of the party, which focuses entirely on the “common and coordinated system of migration and asylum based on solidarity and shared responsibility”. The party of European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) underlines the need for “border protection”.Immigration is one of the priorities of this political formation, a strong point: “The European Union must help member states manage migratory flows and not force citizens to welcome illegal immigrants without their consent”. Hence the proposal for a “global strategy” that covers “all possible entry points, including air, land and sea borders”. The European left, however, is particularly critical of the new pact: “The new pact on migration and asylum must be cancelled, because it condemns refugees to detention and, in most cases, deportation.” “Fortress Europe” is accused of having waged “a war against migrants and refugees for decades, causing violence, suffering and torture, with thousands of victims in the Mediterranean and along the Balkan route, and thousands of deportations”.
