EU agrees on a new migration pact. Mainstream parties hope it will deprive the far right of votes

BRUSSELS — European Union countries on Tuesday backed sweeping reforms to the bloc’s moribund asylum system as campaigning for next month’s European elections intensifies, with migration expected to be a major issue.

The New Pact on Migration and Asylum was officially approved by the finance ministers of the 27 EU countries, ending more than eight years of work to rewrite the rule book for handling people entering Europe without authorization.

EU government ministers approved 10 legislative sections that form part of the pact, with more than 1,500 pages of legal text. Hungary and Poland, which have long opposed any obligation for countries to take in migrants or pay for their support, voted against the package.

The new rules set guidelines for evaluating people to determine whether they qualify for some type of protection, such as asylum, or for deporting them if they are not allowed to stay.

Major political parties believe the pact provides answers to questions that have divided nations since more than 1 million migrants arrived in Europe in 2015, most fleeing war in Syria and Iraq. They hope the reforms will deprive the far right of oxygen to win votes in the June 6-9 elections.

However, the vast legislative package will not come into force until 2026, so it does not provide an immediate solution to a problem that has fueled one of the EU’s biggest political crises as nations argue over who should take responsibility for migrants when arrive and if other countries are obliged to help.

Critics say the pact will allow nations to detain migrants at borders and fingerprint children. They say it aims to keep people out and infringes on their right to seek asylum. Many fear it will result in more dubious political deals with poorer countries that people leave or cross to reach Europe.