At a Justice and Home Affairs Council held on Thursday (October 19) Germany and Austria expressed the belief that "the Schengen agreement isn't dead but broken" while the European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson could only certify that the resumption of internal border controls "damages free circulation".

In the wake of deadly attacks in France and Belgium, Brussels wants to accelerate progress on "a priority - voluntary assisted repatriations" of irregular migrants who "are a threat to security".

Also read: EU ministers call for faster migrant deportations

The issue of the Dublin system

The agenda of the first Justice and Home Affairs Council held since the beginning of the war between Israel and Hamas was overhauled.

Before the meeting of the 27 member countries, nine of them met for breakfast to discuss anti-terror measures, at Sweden's invitation. Most of them -- including France, Belgium and the Netherlands -- had been asking member states of first arrival not to let migrants in without registering them.

Northern capitals are in fact concerned by the fact that a Tunisian national, who killed two Swedes in Brussels last week, has been illegally residing in the EU for 12 years, Johansson recalled.

"The matter concerns the Dublin system, the exchange of information and border controls," observed Swedish Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer.

The shadow of a new political clash between northern and southern Europe looms on the horizon due to repeated notifications of the suspension of the Schengen agreement that several member States are sending or will send to Brussels. "There can be a domino effect," explained the Croatian Interior Minister Davor Božinović.

'Temporary measures at the Italian-Slovenian border'

The Italian government of Premier Giorgia Meloni has already notified a suspension at the border with Slovenia. However, Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said he has "specified to the EU that the measure means to be temporary and proportional."

Piantedosi on November 2 will meet in the northeastern Italian city of Trieste with his counterparts from Croatia and Slovenia to boost coordination efforts.

"Rome must guarantee the regular influx of cross-border workers," said Ljubljana's Interior Minister Boštjan Poklukar, who spoke to reporters about the "unbearable" period of the pandemic".

In this context, the EU for now is eyeing one solution: repatriating suspected jihadists as soon as possible.

Agreement with Tunisia as model for other accords

Brussels wants to accelerate agreements with third countries.The model is the Memorandum of Understanding signed with Tunisia because, as stressed by Johansson, so far cooperation has been good and irregular departures have dropped "by 80%" in one month.

Meanwhile, the European Council is putting pressure on the European Parliament to adopt its negotiating position on repatriation rules that have failed to make progress in the commission due to the opposition so far expressed by members of the European Popular Party.

The objective of the Commission and Council is to close negotiations on repatriations and the Pact on Migration and Asylum by the end of Spain's semester of presidency of the Council of the EU, otherwise Madrid has warned that the timing required for implementation could not be enough before European elections are held in June next year.

At a closed-door meeting on Thursday, the ministers discussed several aspects of the war in the Middle East, including the issue of hostages taken by Hamas on October 7 and of Europeans who are still stranded in Gaza.

The objective regarding this second point is to increase pressure on Egypt to ensure that they leave the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, the EU continues to stress to various interlocutors the need for a de-scalation of the conflict.