The agreement reached on a new Common European Asylum System was urgently needed and long overdue. In our common Europe, in which freedom of movement is one of the greatest achievements, we need reliable rules for migration and asylum for everyone. Humanity and order are the guiding principles that apply to all people. For the first time, the EU member states are now obliged to demonstrate solidarity. This means that we are finally embarking upon a European distribution system. After all, the inhumane conditions at the EU’s external borders must cease to be the face that Europe shows to the world.

In the tough negotiations of recent months, improvements were achieved to ensure that, for example, humanitarian standards are maintained even in the event of crises. The truth is that every agreement reached in Brussels is always a compromise. As Germany, we were not able to push through the blanket exemption of children and families from border procedures. We will now pay all the more attention to ensuring that the new asylum system is implemented in a fair and orderly manner in a spirit of solidarity.