Horst Seehofer, the country’s federal interior minister, insisted Brussels must undergo fundamental reforms to its asylum and migration policy. “Migration policy is the central domestic issue of the European Union,” he said. “We need a new beginning for migration policy in Europe.”
Mr Seehofer said those seeking to claim asylum in the EU should be able to be rejected at the bloc’s external borders.
The so-called Dublin Regulation, which establishes what EU member state is responsible for asylum applications, needs overhauling, the German added.
He said: “Obviously inadmissible or unfounded applications should be rejected immediately at the external border, in which case no entry into the EU is allowed.”
And the Dublin Regulation should be replaced by “establishing firm responsibilities for the examination of requests for protection”.
The German’s warnings comes in the wake of a European Court of Auditors report that warns the bloc must do more to tackle illegal migration.
The audit, which focused on the implantation of EU asylum policies in Greece and Italy, found targets had not been met.
Brussels set an initial target of relocating 160,000 migrants, but eventually agreed to relocate 98,256 individuals. However, only 34,705 were actually ever relocated.
Only 34,705 – 21,999 were from Greece and 12,706 from Italy ere found new homes across EU countries.
Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic have all refused to fulfil their obligations to accept asylum seekers.
The audit blames the inability of Greek and Italian authorities to identify migrations who could be considered eligible for relocation.
It was also found that an EU-funded refugee camp on the Greek island of Samos built to house 640 people is currently home to 3,745.
Auditors said: “Seventy-eight unaccompanied minors were in tents or abandoned derelict houses outside the hot spot, in unofficial extensions to the facility.
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He added: “While some high-level conclusions might be known to larger public, or at least do not come as a surprise – such as low rates of returns, long processing times, and low number of relocated migrants – our audit provides insights, data, findings and conclusions that have not been made public before and thus can add extra value to decision-makers and policy-evaluators.
“The hotspot approach was part of a package of immediate measures established by the Council to counter the crisis unfolding in 2015.
“Another part of this package was a temporary and exceptional relocation mechanism for applicants in clear need of international protection from Greece or Italy to other countries in the EU, in order to relieve the burden on these two frontline member states.”