Juncker and Schwarzenberg

The Global Compact for Migration is non-binding, but adoption for EU members isn't. That's the message sent yesterday by Commission Pres. Jean-Claude Juncker, who said in Berlin that the EU needs to be assertive in world affairs and must therefore part ways with the principle of unanimity (Einstimmigkeitsprinzip). "Es geht nicht mehr" (this has to end), he said. "One, two or three countries leave the U.N. migration pact - if they had read it, they would have remained - and we cannot call ourselves the European Union." This approach won't go over well in the CR, where the political playing field is heavily tilted against the Compact. One notable exception is TOP 09. Karel Schwarzenberg said that his party is behind him on this and has agreed to support joining the Compact. Jun­cker is making Schwarzenberg's job more difficult. He must now convince his followers that the Compact is a good thing in and of itself, not because Juncker and Brussels think it is.