“Member countries can explore whether or not they will find a third country and whether or not they are possible,” he said. “It’s a matter of negotiation, agreement, arrangement.”
Braces for the Battle of Congress
Borrowing heavily from the far-right playbook, the Returns bill is one of the main EU campaign promises of Right European People’s Party (EPP) Chairman Ursula von der Reyen to draw voters back from the European populist movement.
As Congress prepares to begin negotiations, questions remain as to whether the centralist coalition that comprises the EPP, socialists, Democrats and renewal groups liberals will seek to approve the committee’s support, given the fundamental gap in their positions.
“This is not the right way to address the issue of deportation. It’s a populist solution that doesn’t respect our values,” European chief Valerie Heyer told reporters, reflecting a press release by a socialist who said the EPP would reject texts that include Return Hubs, one of the key pillars they want to see in regulations.
Meanwhile, right-wing groups hope that the EPP will use the “Venezuelan majority” (a coalition of conservatives and far-right parties) to push the bill as they have done since the EU election in June.
“Obviously we want a central right majority… (but) it’s up to the EPP now,” Nicola Procaccini, co-chair of the European Conservative and Reformed Right-wing Group, told reporters on Tuesday, celebrating Italy’s “return hub” model.
