Brussels, 06/04/2016 (Agence Europe) - With over one million people arriving in the European Union in 2015 and the migration crisis heaping pressure on national systems, the European Commission brought forward its options, on Wednesday 6 April, for reforming the Dublin Rules on asylum with the central idea of correcting the imbalances among the member states by forcing them to show greater solidarity.
Two options have been put on the table. The first retains the basic system, amending it by means of a specific mechanism; the second proposes deeper reform, using a formula for sharing out asylum seekers calculated on the size and wealth of each country.
The Commission will flesh out its proposals on this highly sensitive issue in a legislative proposal to be presented “before the summer”, promised First Vice-President Frans Timmermans, persuaded that the refugee crisis confronting Europe has highlighted “the weaknesses in our common European asylum system”. “Those who need protection must continue to receive it, and they should not have to put their lives in the hands of people smugglers. But the current system is not sustainable. Different national approaches have fuelled asylum shopping and irregular migration, while we have seen in the ongoing crisis that the Dublin rules have placed too much responsibility on just a few member states”, he said.
The Dublin system has, since 2003, been founded on the principle of the “first country of entry”: the country in which the asylum seeker was first registered in the EU should handle the asylum request. This principle has led to asylum seekers being sent back to Greece, for example.
The Commission's first option would see action in the event of strong pressure on this first country, putting in place a relocation mechanism directing asylum seekers to other member states. Relocation would be triggered when a certain number of asylum applications was reached in the first country of entry. This mechanism would come into play in the event of a disproportionate influx of asylum seekers in any given country and perhaps, the Commission suggests, in the wake of action by the future European coastguard agency (see other article). The sharing out among the other member states would keep the same principles as the relocation decisions adopted in 2015 (GDP of the country, its size, its record on taking in asylum seekers and unemployment level).
Principle of first country of entry called into question?
The second option tabled appears more radical and proposes amending the very Dublin principle, putting forward a new system for sharing asylum seekers among the member states and removing the principle of the first country of entry. Member states' responsibility would be determined by an allocation formula which would again reflect the size, wealth and absorption capacity of the member states. Things such as the asylum applicant's family ties and the principle of the best interest of the child would also be taken into account and asylum seekers allocated on these bases would be deducted from the quota of the member state. Once designated, that country would remain mainly responsible for the asylum request, the Commission's objective being to prevent secondary movement of asylum seekers. The end of 2015 saw major flows of migrants, in particular along the Balkans route.
While asylum seekers would, once their application had been submitted in a specific member state, have the right to move within the Schengen area for a period of three months, penalties would be imposed if that time is exceeded. The Commission is considering removing certain rights when the asylum seeker returns to the country handling his/her request. “Certain rights could be made conditional upon registration, fingerprinting and stay in the EU country assigned to the applicant”, the Commission says.
However, to discourage secondary movement in the first place, the Commission is looking, above all, to further harmonise national asylum systems to minimise “asylum shopping”. It says that this will “ensure a more humane and equal treatment across the EU and reduce pull factors that draw people to a small number of Member States”.
To this end, the Commission could bring forward a new regulation to replace the directive on asylum procedures and another to the replace the directive on the conditions that must be met by asylum seekers. Targeted amendments to the directive on reception conditions could also be proposed.
In the long term, the Commission suggests that the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) should play a leading role in handling asylum requests, becoming a first instance decision-making body. However, Timmermans himself acknowledged, this difficult-to-implement option is not realistic in the short term. The Commission's goal, he said, is to clear the way for an early decision between the Council of the EU and the European Parliament on the future contours of the Dublin Rules.
In the meantime, the Commission could propose to beef up EASO's mandate, giving it responsibility for the allocation mechanism provided for in the reform of asylum rules. EASO would be responsible for monitoring member states' compliance with EU asylum rules and defining the measures to be taken to address shortcomings, and would be empowered to adopt operational measures in emergency situations.
For legal migration, the Commission also intends ultimately to propose a structured resettlement system, reform of the directive on the European blue card, measures to attract and support innovative entrepreneurs and a REFIT evaluation of existing legal migration rules, and also wants to improve cooperation with third countries. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)