EU lawmakers vote on migration system revamp ahead of bloc’s election

European lawmakers are holding a vote on Wednesday on a revamp of the bloc’s migration system that the pro-EU political centre casts as a proof of its viability against the far right ahead of the bloc’s parliamentary election in June.
It promises to cut the times for security and asylum procedures, and increase returns to reduce unwanted immigration from the Middle East and Africa, a high priority on the EU’s agenda.
After eight years of feuds between the bloc’s 27 member states, the compromise proposals lay out a balance between the obligations of arrival countries such as Italy and help from rich destinations such as Germany.
But it has been squarely criticised by anti-immigration, eurosceptic and far-right parties for not going far enough to stop migration, while leftists and rights activists have lambasted it as a major blow to human rights.