Brussels, 20/10/2011 (Agence Europe) - On 13 October, the British government announced that it would not be participating in the directives revised on 1 June by the Commission on reception conditions and procedures for asylum seekers, with regard to the granting and withdrawal of international protection.
The minister for immigration, Damian Green, declared in a press release that these two directives would restrict the British asylum system's ability to be “both fair and efficient”.
He underlined that the United Kingdom does not support a common asylum regime that is due to be set up in the EU by 2012. He asserted that these two projects could “weaken our border”.
Signing up to the Reception Conditions Directive “would have forced the UK to allow asylum seekers to work after six months, even if their claims had been refused and they were appealing against the decision”, Green explained, adding that “this would have sent out the wrong message, encouraging those who do not need our protection to make unfounded asylum claims”.
The minister also deplores the fact that the directive “would also have required all detention to be authorised by a judge”, which would place an additional “burden” on British courts and would be costly for the British taxpayer.
The press release indicates that opting in to the Procedures Directive would have jeopardised the Detained Fast Track which provides speedy but fair decisions for asylum seekers whose claims “can be decided quickly”.
The United Kingdom had, however, opted in to the two initial directives dating from 2003 and 2005. The Commission then attempted to revise these directives in 2008 and 2009 but was unsuccessful. The United Kingdom had already indicated during this first incomplete revision that it would no longer be participating in the directives. The fact that London is now deciding not to participate in these two texts remains, however, bad news, particularly for the Commission, which thought that it had in fact succeeded in putting proposals on the table last June that would be more acceptable to member states. The United Kingdom, however, is not the only country having problems with the two new texts. Several member states, including France and Germany, have not concealed their misgivings either. It should be pointed out that they had problems with the Commission proposals on revision of the Dublin system which, despite support from the current Polish Presidency, continues to undermine discussions on the asylum package. (SP/transl.fl)