(VOVWORLD) - As the EU Summit approaches, member countries are seeking consensus on many issues. High on the agenda is migration, which has caused division within the EU, heightened by Italy and Malta’s migrant ship refusal.
 Migrants at Serbia's border
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Migration is one of the reasons Britain is leaving the EU, with serious political and economic consequences.
Since the migration crisis began in 2015, the EU has failed to agree on a solution. Every day hundreds of people from Libya and Syria risk their lives crossing the Mediterranean sea to Europe.
Struggling to solve the migration issue
French President Emanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel met in Berlin Tuesday to promote a joint effort to resolve the migration issue and find an acceptable solution for all EU members.
Tensions intensified when Italy and Malta refused entry to a French rescue ship and declared their ports closed to other foreign rescue ships.
Italy’s Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has slammed the EU’s immigration policy. At a meeting with Merkel on Monday, he repeated his view on reforming the Dublin Regulation, which lays the burden on first country of arrival. Italy’s new government’s view on migration has once again challenged the “EU common house” model. French President Emmanuel Macron has strongly criticized Italy’s decision which would create a crack in their good relationship.
Paris wants to persuade Berlin to increase financial assistance for the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) and quickly create asylum centers for African migrants. It seems that Merkel’s political scope has narrowed. She and Minister of Home Affairs Horst Seehofer, who is leader of the Christian Social Union (CSU) have different views on migration policy, which threatens the coalition government. Merkel aims to reach a solution for all Europe at the EU Summit next Thursday, Seehofer wants to tighten German border security and refuse asylum. In early June, Merkel supported French President Macron’s plan to start a fund to assist poorer EU countries in science, technology, and reform. But it’s unclear how much money the fund will have, because Germany has not agreed with the French plan to invest billions of euros.
Migration issue dogs the EU
Over the past 3 years, the EU has conducted several negotiations on migration issues, but has failed to reach a comprehensive solution or refugee quota policy. Whether the EU can resolve its differences at the coming summit depends largely on France, Germany, and Italy.