Europe's Schengen zone 'in danger' if no asylum deal reached

Germany and Austria call for agreement on managing EU's external border

Germany and Austria have brought in temporary checks to manage asylum numbers. AP

Europe’s visa-free Schengen zone is in danger unless countries strike a deal on curbing asylum claims, Germany said on Thursday.

Austria, meanwhile, is pressing for a Europe-wide “asylum brake” that could include claims being processed in third countries.

Negotiations on an EU asylum pact are coming to a head after years of fractious debates in the wake of the 2015 migration crisis.

Countries on the EU perimeter such as Italy have long demanded that its inland neighbours take in more people who arrive by sea.

But countries such as Austria and Germany baulk at taking in more people and would rather see tougher measures at the outer border.

Interior ministers from the two countries, who held talks in Berlin on Thursday, have ordered temporary border checks within the Schengen zone to stem the flow of people.

“We all want a Europe of open borders, and at the moment we are forced to carry out checks,” said German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, who said there could be no repeat of Europe's patchwork response in 2015.

“I see Schengen in danger if we do not succeed in coming to an agreement in the coming months.”

The long-stalled asylum agreement will be up for discussion at an EU meeting in Luxembourg on June 8.

On the table is a fast-track border procedure for handling asylum claims at the EU’s external border.

Landlocked Austria is pushing for a tough approach after it reported more than 110,000 asylum claims last year, many from India and Tunisia. It vetoed Romania and Bulgaria's attempt to join Schengen to make its point to Brussels.

German states have similarly said that their capacity to absorb migrants is at its limit.

“For an asylum system to be credible, it has to be clear that those who have no right to asylum have to return to their home country,” said Austria’s Interior Minister Gerhard Karner.

“That is ultimately the most important signal to those who might migrate for economic reasons.”

Senior Austrian politicians have expressed interest in processing people in third countries, as Britain and Denmark intend to do.

Mr Karner will take his Danish counterpart to the Hungarian border on Friday to demonstrate how Austria’s own “asylum brake” has reduced numbers.

He said people smuggling was one of the most lucrative branches of organised crime in Europe.

“We are seeing that our proposals are being taken up by ever more EU countries,” Mr Karner said.

Pro-migrant charities object to tougher asylum rules, which they say would breach human rights.

A letter sent to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Tuesday by charity Pro Asyl said fast-track deportations at the EU’s external border were “not a fair or thorough asylum procedure”.

“Asylum claims would be rejected if the refugee travelled via a supposedly safe third country … it is the deportation options being examined, not the reasons for seeking shelter,” the letter said.