Brussels, 18/11/2015 (Agence Europe) - Hungary is to appeal against the system of obligatory 'quotas' for the distribution of refugees between the member states before the Court of Justice of the European Union, a law to this effect having been adopted by the Hungarian Parliament on Monday 16 November, EuObserver reports.
The law, which was approved by 154 votes from the party in power, Fidesz, and the extreme-right opposition, stipulates that the quotas (two successive decisions in September on relocation obliges the participating member states to divide 160,000 people between them over two years) deny the principle of subsidiarity and prevent the national parliaments from expressing their opinions.
In October, Slovakia also announced that it would be challenging the quotas before the Court of Justice of the EU. When asked about this subject on Wednesday 18 November, the Commission reiterated that it believes that its proposal holds water legally. “It is built on a solid legal basis”, a Commission spokesperson commented. The institution also said last month that the relocation decisions were binding on all member states concerned and that Slovakia, for instance, could not refuse to apply them on pain of being brought before the Court of Justice itself, an option which is open to the Commission.
Under the relocation decisions, Hungary must take 2,000 people over two years, a number which could rise due to family reunification, said Justice Minister Laszlo Trocsanyi, before the vote of the Parliament.
A deadline missed by the member states
So far, 158 refugees have been relocated from Greece and Italy out of the 160,000 people the member states have undertaken to host over two years, according to a report published by the Commission, and no further relocation exercises are planned for this week, it adds.
The member states have in any case missed the deadline they set on 9 November, at an extraordinary meeting of the home affairs ministers, to appoint their liaison officers in Greece and Italy and to respond to a call for personnel by the agencies Frontex and EASO to step up work in the hotspots.
According to the report published by the Commission on 17 November, the member states have so far pledged just 392 experts out of the 775 requested by Frontex and 177 of the 374 called for by EASO. Ten member states have sent no liaison officers to Greece and six have not sent any to Italy. As for the hotspots and the assistance provided by the member states, almost none of them have sent any personnel to the Greek or Italian authorities.
The Commission cannot force the pace, as this procedure is a matter for the competence of the member states. In September and October, at summit meetings, however, the 28 undertook to ensure that the hotspots would be fully operational by the end of November, a commitment which gives the member states 12 days to keep their own promises. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)