Brussels, 19/07/2012 (Agence Europe) - COREPER (the committee of member states' permanent representatives to the EU) reached agreement on Wednesday 18 July on the Dublin II regulation which governs how member states handle asylum requests and defines respective responsibilities.
The Cypriot Presidency of the EU Council of Ministers made the announcement in a press release. The agreement will settle the remaining outstanding points, such as the situation of unaccompanied minors arriving in a country which, under the terms of the Dublin II regulation, is not strictly responsible for hearing the asylum request and the deadlines by which a primarily responsible member state must inform another member state if it will take on an asylum case, a Council spokesperson said. Other major points in the regulation had already been agreed, for example, the early warning mechanism which will replace Dublin II's suspension clause and transfers of asylum seekers from one country to another. The suspension mechanism proposed by the Commission had been rejected by the majority of member states.
The Cypriot Presidency still has to put the terms of the agreement to the European Parliament (EP) and to the EP's civil liberties committee which, assuming there are no hold-ups, could vote on the matter as early as September. The regulation could, then, be up and running before the end of the year. The Dublin II text forms part of the asylum package which member states have pledged to fully finalise before the end of the year. (SP/transl.rt)