The European Parliament finally approved Juan Fernando's report in plenary session on Tuesday 11 December by 429 votes to 194 with 41 abstentions López Aguilar (S&D) on humanitarian visas, on which the Commission is invited to legislate. This vote puts an end to the ups and downs of the November session, when not enough MEPs had supported this report (see EUROPE 12138).
The Parliament Conference of Group Presidents had decided at the same time to return the report to the legislative circuit under the accelerated procedure. The Civil Liberties Committee had approved the report again on 3 December.
The adopted own-initiative report asks the Commission to present, by 31 March 2019, legislation establishing a European humanitarian visa giving access to EU territory (only to the Member State issuing the visa) to submit (and only for that purpose) an asylum application.
This humanitarian visa would be issued in embassies abroad so that these people can reach the EU without going to sea or risking their lives.
However, the resolution adopted also provides, this time, that visa applicants must be able to prove that they are indeed exposed to a risk of persecution and are not already the subject of a resettlement process in an EU country. Before the visa is issued, each applicant should therefore be subject to a security screening, via the relevant national and European databases, now stipulates the text. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)