Republic of Ireland backs the new pack and has become the seventh member state to call for asylum seekers to be returned to the countries of first entry, including Italy.
Rome is refusing to accept migrant returns from countries like Germany, demanding financial concessions, and clashing over German-flagged rescue vessels operating in the Mediterranean. Most recently, in Naples, Sea Watch 5 has been hit with a 45-day administrative detention order and a 7,500-euro fine, accused of failing to cooperate with the Libyan coastguard.
Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi is scheduled to meet his German counterpart Alexander Dobrindt next month to discuss a proposal for a compensation mechanism between the transfers requested and the people rescued by private vessels.
The European Commission warned that Italy's systematic refusal to accept asylum seekers transferred back from other EU nations threatens the entire EU Pact on Migration and Asylum, cautioning that Rome's stance could prompt other member states to suspend the bloc's mandatory solidarity mechanism.
