‘Exhausted’ Germany could use emergency EU powers to block asylum seekers

Using Article 72 to scrap EU asylum rules would be controversial Credit: Sean Gallup

Christian Democrats MP Günter Krings said the new government could invoke Article 72 to ‘generally’ reject asylum seekers Germany is “exhausted” by mass migration and may need to use emergency EU powers to turn away asylum seekers, an ally of Friedrich Merz has said.

Günter Krings, an MP and policy negotiator for the incoming chancellor’s Christian Democrats [CDU] party, said the new government could invoke Article 72 of the bloc’s main treaty to “generally” reject asylum seekers at Germany’s land borders.

The emergency clause, from the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union [TFEU], allows EU members to suspend certain rules such as asylum procedures if they pose a threat to “internal security” and the “maintenance of law order”.

Mr Krings, who negotiated migration policy in the coalition talks, told The Telegraph: “More than four million asylum seekers and war refugees came to Germany in the last decade, our capacities to integrate so many people into our society are exhausted, our public order and internal security severely affected.

The MP pointed out that Olaf Scholz, the outgoing chancellor, set a precedent for using Article 72 on security grounds when he reintroduced passport checks at all German land borders last year.

“It can also be used to generally reject asylum seekers without a proper visa,” Mr Krings said.

Mr Merz vowed to chart a “new course” on migration this week as he announced a coalition government with the centre-Left Social Democrats, following his election victory in February.

Mass rejections of asylum seekers at land borders was a key campaign pledge for Mr Merz, who is under intense political pressure from Alternative for Germany [AfD], the hard-Right party that came second in the federal elections.

The coalition deal announced this week states that Germany will reject asylum seekers at its borders “in coordination with EU neighbours”, and launch a “repatriation offensive” of illegal migrants. Another key policy is abolishing a Scholz government reform that allowed foreigners to acquire German citizenship in just three years, rather than five.

As several neighbouring countries have already ruled out cooperating on border rejections, CDU officials expect they may need to take stronger measures, such as invoking Article 72.

Using Article 72 to scrap EU asylum rules would be controversial, and experts are divided on whether it is even legal.

The German government would have to supply proof that it was dealing with a national emergency, which may be difficult as recent figures show a 30 per cent drop in asylum applications

In another potential legal hurdle, EU law states that asylum seekers should be allowed to enter a country before their claim can be dismissed.

However, Mr Krings, who worked as a lawyer before entering politics, said this argument overlooks the fact that asylum seekers crossing into Germany have already been granted refuge in a safe EU country, such as Austria or Poland.

“It clearly follows from EU law that any asylum procedure must be started in the country in which an asylum seeker is currently located,” he said. “So if he is in Austria for example, Austria must either carry out the asylum procedure itself or transfer the asylum seeker to the country where he first entered European soil.

“It would be absurd to assume that the responsibility for his asylum case should miraculously switch to Germany, once this person just shows up at the German border. Mr Krings added that “as long as an asylum seeker has not legally crossed our border”, they cannot be considered part of the German legal or social security system. “Therefore a unilateral rejection at our borders is lawful and fair,” he said.

The CDU’s current priority is striking deals on a “smoother and more effective” security regime with neighbouring countries to support border rejections, he said.

Contributed by the Telegraph