On Thursday 15 June, the civil liberties committee (LIBE) at the European Parliament adopted by a large majority (40 votes in favour, 13 against, with 4 abstentions) its negotiating position on a draft regulation setting out the conditions that migrants have to fulfil in order to benefit from international protection and related rights.
The new rules stipulate that for all beneficiaries of international protection in the European Union, residence permits are valid for five years and renewable for an additional five-year period.
The aim of the regulation is to ensure that asylum seekers face equal treatment and receive the same form of protection regardless of the member state in which they file their request. A European Parliament press release said that this should help reduce "asylum-shopping" (when an asylum seeker chooses the national law that serves their best interests).
MEPs also want to improve prospects for integration in the societies taking in the refugees.
When assessing an asylum claim, member states will have to rely on the information from the EU Agency for Asylum on the situation in the country of origin, and should also verify possible internal protection alternatives.
If there is no longer a need for protection, authorities can withdraw it. They can also do so if the beneficiary is involved in terrorism or other serious crimes.
However, MEPs deleted the compulsory review of the refugee status, following a “significant change in the country of origin” and left it as an option for national authorities.
MEPs also included provisions to make sure that unaccompanied children receive adequate protection, like any other children in the country where they are located. The Parliament said they should have a guardian appointed, if possible the same one since their arrival to the EU, and be placed with relatives, foster families or in open specialised centres.
The Council has still not adopted any text from the “asylum package” at this stage. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)