Top EU officials urge progress on asylum reform deal

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Parliament President Roberta Metsola have separately called for faster progress on a planned overhaul of the bloc's asylum system, with negotiations at a standstill.
Von der Leyen argued on Wednesday that the continued instrumentalization of migrants for political purposes by countries such as Belarus shows that a quick agreement is needed.
Speaking on the sidelines of a meeting with new Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina, she stressed that it was important to have common rules.
Metsola earlier called on governments to compromise.
Every effort should be made to break the current deadlock, the Maltese politician told dpa and other media in an interview with the European Newsroom, a joint project by news agencies across Europe.
Asked about Germany's position, Metsola said she did not want to comment on the stance of individual member states. Berlin was blamed by some for the current freeze in talks between the EU legislature and member states.
"I would not single out countries, but rather I would say that all efforts should be made to unblock any last-minute hitches," Metsola said, noting that it was "essential that [Europe solves] the migration legislative crisis" this year.
Next year, many legislative initiatives will come to a standstill ahead of European Parliament elections in June.
Metsola said there would be countries that do not want to accept new rules, while noting that this was nothing new. She remained confident of finding a solution in the coming weeks.
EU capitals are currently negotiating a sweeping reform of the bloc's common asylum system. One part in particular, the so-called crisis regulation, is currently the subject of intense wrangling.
The German government did not support a compromise proposal in July, leaving EU states unable to formulate a joint position to enter negotiations with the parliament on the crisis regulation.
The main reason given by Berlin was that the proposal would allow member states to lower the protection standards for migrants in an unacceptable way in the event of a particularly strong influx of migrants.
Annoyed by the deadlock, the parliament announced last week that it would block other parts of the negotiations on the planned asylum reform until further notice.
The delays are also particularly critical given the upcoming European elections in June 2024.
Negotiations on draft bills between EU countries and the European Parliament which are not concluded ahead of next year's vote could have to start afresh with newly elected lawmakers or face long delays.
In the case of the asylum reform, this would be a particularly big setback as the legislation has been in the works for years.
The main aim of the reform package is to tackle illegal migration to the bloc.