Where the member states dither, the European Parliament has sent a clear signal. Its civil liberties (LIBE) committee adopted a report on Thursday 19 October running in completely the opposite direction from the one taken on the same day by the discussions in Council on the reform of the European asylum system through the overhaul of the so-called Dublin regulation.
While European Council President Donald Tusk said on Wednesday evening that he could not see the current proposal on the compulsory relocation of asylum seekers and quotas ever being approved, the LIBE committee, in backing the report by Cecilia Wikström (ALDE, Sweden), argued for a permanent, compulsory relocation mechanism, based on quotas and putting an end to the principle that the country through which refugees first enter Europe is responsible for dealing with asylum requests.
This principle places a particularly heavy burden on countries such as Greece and Italy that are on the front line of migration.
“I didn’t think we’d come to this a year and a half ago”, the rapporteur acknowledged straightway to the press after the vote. In her opinion, the Parliamentary committee has sent a clear message to the member states. “Follow our lead”, she said, indicating that she thought it was possible that the Council might possibly fall in with her view.
In concrete terms, the report that was adopted by a comfortable majority (43 votes to 16, with no abstentions) on Thursday proposes that it be mandatory for all member states to be involved in the mechanism for relocating asylum seekers on the basis of a set method of apportionment. Nor will there any longer be crisis thresholds to be met before triggering the mechanism, as the Council considered in its discussions.
Under this system, the countries of first entry would, then, no longer be automatically responsible for asylum requests. On arrival, asylum seekers would be questioned about family, employment or school links in other member states. If, after investigation, these links prove to be real, the asylum seekers would be directly relocated in the country they indicated and that country would then become responsible for handling their asylum requests. If it was proved that an asylum seeker had not told the truth, that person would be returned to the country of first entry.
In the event of their having none of the above-mentioned links, each asylum seeker would automatically be assigned to a member state on the basis of the method of apportionment. More detailed inspection and consideration of their circumstances will also make it clearer whether the asylum seekers indeed qualify for international protection. If they do not, they will not be relocated and will be swiftly returned to their respective countries.
Sanctions on uncooperative countries. The committee also backed the idea of imposing sanctions on states that resist compulsory relocation. They would not have to pay fines but could see the structural funds they receive cut. At present, countries like Poland and Hungary are completely against relocation, despite EU case-law, and seem to be the ones particularly targeted by this threat to European funding.
The report also makes provision for a three-year transition period in the course of which assistance would be provided to relocating countries to help them build the infrastructure needed for the reception of asylum seekers. The report also contains new requirements on the security of the external borders of the former countries of first entry.
For Wikström, the plan could sway the Council in which, at present, there is no blocking minority on the reform, she said, calling for a qualified majority decision to be taken by the member states.
EU leaders do not, however, wish to relive the 2015 experience with the so-called Visegrad countries (Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary) forming a minority whose views were voted down. The goal of the European Council is to reach consensus on reform of the Dublin regulation, several sources have made clear over recent days, at the latest by May or June 2018, according to the leaders’ draft agenda for 2017-2018.
Satisfaction on part of political groups. The report adopted by the LIBE committee proposes “radical” reform of the asylum system, said Gianni Pittella, leader of the S&D Group, on Thursday morning. “The ball is now in the Council’s court”, he added.
Alessandra Mussolini (EPP, Italy) said this system would finally make a genuine solidarity mechanism a reality in the EU and she welcomed the safety guarantees it includes.
In the view of the Greens/EFA Group, the committee has adopted “the reforms that were needed to bring about a fairer system for asylum seekers and also for the southern member states, such as Italy and Greece, which are penalised under the current rules simply because of their geographical location”, stated Eva Joly (France).
The European Parliament President Antonio Tajani also hailed the vote and tweeted a promise to ask the European Council meeting in Brussels on the same day to “do its share” (see other article). Parliament will put the report to a vote in the plenary session in November. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)