BERLIN, June 25 (Xinhua) -- European Union (EU) commissioner and Christian Democratic Union (CDU) politician Guenther Oettinger has pleaded for more time on Monday to help German Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) forge a new joint approach to asylum policy in the bloc.
Speaking to the newspaper "Reutlinger General-Anzeiger", Oettinger argued that a European solution for asylum policy "in the dimension demanded by the Christian Social Union (CSU)" could not be obtained in a manner of days. He hereby referred to a festering cabinet conflict between the CDU and CSU sparked by disagreement over a "migration master plan" drafted by Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU).
The CDU and CSU have reached a widely-publicized impasse over the question of whether or not to turn back asylum seekers at the German border who were already registered in another Schengen area country.
Seehofer wants to refuse asylum access to German territory if they have already formally entered the Schengen zone via another country. By contrast, Merkel has warned of a resulting domino effect as Germany's neighbors rush to shutter their internal Schengen borders and is calling for a joint European solution to the "refugee crisis".
While the interior minister can technically enact some policies related to immigration and asylum without the chancellor's consent, such a move would mark an unprecedented show of disobedience within a German government. Merkel has already threatened to strip Seehofer of his cabinet position if he continues to defy her authority.
In turn, the CSU leader hit back by warning that such a move would lead to the violent unravelling of the ruling grand coalition formed by the CDU, CSU and German Social Democrats (SPD). Merkel's fourth cabinet relies on the support of the CSU for a legislative majority and has formed a parliamentary alliance with the CDU for most of Germany's post-war history.
Seehofer has insisted that "nobody would be happier" than himself if a European solution in the asylum conflict was achieved and likened his unusual intervention in cabinet politics to a "wake-up call for the European Union". At the same time, the CSU leader reiterated that he would press ahead unilaterally in his competency as interior minister unless Merkel secures a binding commitment to a joint EU approach within two weeks.
The chancellor recently held discussions of the subject at a hastily-convened multilateral meeting in Brussels, dubbed as the "summit to save Merkel" by some. Following a first and inconclusive round of talks on Sunday, the CDU leader told press that she had encountered "a lot of goodwill" but admitted that there were many remaining areas of disagreement between the 16 attending EU states.
Similarly, Oettinger highlighted on Monday that progress had been made. "I think the chancellor has strong arguments to pursue further consultations on the European level", the EU Commissioner told "Reutlinger General-Anzeiger".
The CDU leadership subsequently held internal discussions of the early results of the mini-summit. Amongst others, the absence of the "Visegrad Group" of Eastern European states and a far-reaching plan proposed by the new Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte to abolish the so-called Dublin asylum policy regime in the Schengen area were addressed at the meeting.
Despite the manifestation of such competing visions for EU asylum policy, however, there are also areas where consensus is within reach. The CSU politician and Europe spokesperson Manfred Weber commented favorably on the progress of plans to increase the funding, staff and responsibilities of the EU external border agency FRONTEX in this context.