European Parliament narrowly endorses EU migration reform, moving it closer to the finish line

The move was preceded by uncertainty due to a growing chorus of dissent from the right and the left, which, despite gaining traction, failed to derail the momentous vote on Wednesday afternoon. 

"We have listened, we have acted and we have delivered on one of the main concerns of people across Europe," said Roberta Metsola, the Parliament's president.

"This is a historic day," she declared.

The so-called New Pact on Migration and Asylum, an elaborate set of five separate but intertwined pieces of legislation, only needs the final green light from member states, which is expected at the end of the month. 

The New Pact envisions collective and predictable rules to manage the reception and relocation of asylum seekers, a politically explosive issue that has been a recurring source of tension since the 2015-2016 migration crisis, frustrating continued attempts to achieve a common understanding at the European level.

The reform, first unveiled in September 2020, aims to turn the page on this go-it-alone era by bringing together all aspects of migration management, including the identification of asylum seekers, accelerated border procedures and the resettlement of refugees. Its main novelty is a system of "mandatory solidarity" to ensure all countries, regardless of their size and location, contribute to alleviating the pressure on Southern Europe.

The ambitious proposal by the European Commission ran for hundreds of pages and involved a myriad of complex issues, such as fundamental rights, unaccompanied minors, data privacy, financial contributions, detention periods and national security, which slowed down the legislative process.

The Parliament and member states in the Council spent years debating and amending the New Pact,