As expected, on Monday 8 December the ministers of the Member States approved by a large majority the revisions to the Asylum Procedure Regulation aimed at creating a common list of ‘safe countries of origin’ and a revised concept of ‘safe country of origin’ (SCO) as well as a revised concept of ‘safe third country’ (STC) (see EUROPE 13760/13).
Under the SCO, Member States can refuse to examine an asylum application in detail on their territory if the person concerned is a national of a country where his or her life is not in danger. The list will be compulsory for Member States, who will still be able to keep their own, sometimes longer lists.
The revision of the STC concept makes taking into account a connection criterion optional when returning a rejected asylum seeker in the EU to a third country from which they do not originate, but which could offer them equivalent protection.
Member States will be able to apply this STC concept according to three options: there is a connection between the asylum seeker and the third country, but this connection will no longer be a mandatory criterion for applying the safe third country concept; the applicant transited through the third country before reaching the EU; or there is an agreement or arrangement with a safe third country guaranteeing that the asylum application will be examined in the third country concerned, meaning a migrant could then be sent to a country they know nothing about.
However, applying the STC concept on the basis of an agreement or arrangement will not be possible for unaccompanied minors. In addition, an applicant lodging an appeal against an inadmissibility decision based on the STC concept will no longer have an automatic right to remain in the EU for the duration of the appeal.
Reception centres for these asylum seekers will also logically have to be established in these third countries, welcomed Danish Minister for Immigration and Integration Rasmus Stoklund. “We now have the legal framework so that Member States can make reception centres and other (...) solutions with third countries”, he said. “We’ve been denouncing the dysfunction of the asylum system for years: we’re helping the wrong people, we’re not helping those who really need it and we’re not managing to control migration to Europe. This is a major step forward”.
The EU Council has designated 7 countries as ‘safe countries of origin’ for the EU as a whole: Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, India, Kosovo, Morocco and Tunisia. Countries officially applying for EU membership will also be designated as such, unless: the country is experiencing an armed conflict; restrictive measures affecting rights and freedoms have been adopted; or the proportion of positive decisions concerning asylum applicants from the country in question is greater than 20%.
On Monday, several countries confirmed their rejection of the ‘STC’ text, including Spain and France, which fear secondary movements of asylum seekers to countries not applying this concept and doubt the legality of the arrangements. Madrid also does not want EU money to be used to support these reception centres in third countries.
European Parliament adopted its mandates on 3 December (see EUROPE 13765/8).
Links to the documents in question: https://aeur.eu/f/jvy , https://aeur.eu/f/jvz (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)