EU struggles to update asylum laws three years on from a sweeping reform. And the clock is ticking

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European Union governments are struggling to overcome obstacles to put a new asylum system in place three years after unveiling a plan to reform the bloc's outdated asylum rules

BRUSSELS — Three years after unveiling a plan for sweeping reform of the European Union’s outdated asylum rules, government ministers struggled on Thursday to overcome yet another obstacle to putting the new system in place, fueling doubt as to whether it will ever see the light of day.

The New Pact on Migration and Asylum was touted as the answer to the EU’s migration woes when it was made public in September 2020. The 27-nation bloc’s old rules collapsed in 2015 after well over 1 million people arrived in Europe without authorization. Most were fleeing war in Syria or Iraq.

But little progress was made on the pact as the member states bickered over which country should take charge of migrants when they arrive and whether other countries should be obligated to help.

That riddle was solved, at least temporarily, in June. The plan is held up now over a “crisis regulation” laying out extraordinary measures that could be taken in the event of a massive, unforeseen movement of migrants.

It would involve setting up processing centers on the EU’s outside borders where people would be screened when they arrive and include the option to detain people until their asylum claims are assessed.

But the clock is ticking on the whole deal. Elections will be held across the EU in June. For the pact to get through, officials and lawmakers say, an agreement on all 10 parts of the plan must be sealed by February. A new European Commission and European Parliament will start work next year and they may want to modify the pact, raising the risk that it might unravel.