Editor's note: The article is based on an interview with Yan Shaohua, assistant professor of European Studies at Guangdong University of Foreign Studies and research fellow at Guangdong Institute for International Strategies (GIIS).

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is having a bad headache right now. Matter of fact, the buzzing sound began on June 28, when the EU Summit got underway in Brussels. After overnight marathon talks, the EU leaders seemed to have reached an agreement on the immigration issue.

However, the "agreement" Merkel brought back to her own country didn't please her administration. The buzzing sound became louder when Horst Seehofer, her interior minister and leader of the Christian Social Union offered to resign on July 1 because of their disagreement over immigration policy.

The storm seemed to have subsided after "hours of emergency talk" between Merkel and Seehofer. The Bavarian conservative leader then announced that he will not resign as an agreement has been reached between the two sides.

Talk after talks, deals after deals, crises after crises, will the buzzing sound bothering Merkel finally stop? Maybe not.

French President Emmanuel Macron (L) receives Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte (R) at the Elysee Palace, after a bitter diplomatic spat between France and Italy over the new Italian government's refusal to give the Aquarius rescue ship, carrying 629 migrants, permission to dock. /VCG Photo

Immigration deal – an episode, not an end

According to Yan Shaohua, assistant professor of European Studies at Guangdong University of Foreign Studies and research fellow at the Guangdong Institute for International Strategies, the immigration deal reached during the recent European Council meeting is another episode in the ongoing refugee crisis saga that has dominated European politics, and not its end.

The hard process of negotiations has shown that there is more division in the Europe Union than solidarity. It is uncertain, however, whether the agreement will be implemented smoothly or even whether the countries involved are satisfied enough.

For example, according to Italian Newspaper La Repubblica, the newly-elected Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has commented on the immigration deal with a sense of pity. He said: "Of course I am satisfied with the result. But if I were the one to write it, I would write it differently, but the decisions can't be made by me, we are altogether 28 countries."

Italy played a vital role in this meeting of the European Council. It was its opposition that snatched compromise from Germany. The newly-elected Populist Party, since the election campaign, has raised the flag of anti-immigration. In the government coalition paper, the amendment to the Dublin Regulation was stressed.

On Monday, just three days after the summit, the Italian government announced it would send 10 motor launches, two ships, dinghies, equipment, vehicles and other material to help Libyan maritime authorities increase their capacity to combat illegal migration, according to German broadcaster Deutsche Welle.

The solutions proposed in the summit to set up a "reception center" for asylum seekers in "partner countries" in the Middle East and Africa are threatened with opposition from concerned parties.

According to a report by German newspaper Welt am Sonntag, Egypt’s Parliament Speaker Ali Abdel Aal announced that Egyptian authorities refuse the proposal of establishing a "reception center" in his country. Leaders of Albania, Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria have also rejected the proposal, Deutsche Welle reported.

German Chancellor and leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) Angela Merkel walks in to give a statement prior to a Christian Democrats party (CDU) leadership meeting at the CDU headquarters in Berlin on March 5, 2018. /VCG Photo‍

After CSU, there is also SPD

The new German government is made up of the "grand coalition" of Conservatives (CDU/CSU) and Social Democrats (SPD). The CDU (Christian Democratic Union) is led by Merkel and the CSU (Christian Social Union) is led by Horst Seehofer, who just went to war before call truce.

But according to Yan, Horst Seehofer's consensus with Merkel might have prevented a coalition crisis for the time being, but the third party, SPD, could also pose risks. Whether it is willing to cooperate within the framework of the deal is of great importance.

There is one thing for sure, the immigration crisis has not only created friction between the coalition and the far-right AfD (Alternative for Germany), but also weakened the position of Merkel inside her coalition and shook the stability of the coalition government.