On Tuesday 10 February, the European Parliament approved two legislative texts on ‘safe third countries’ and ‘safe countries of origin’ to speed up asylum and removal procedures (see EUROPE 13795/14). While these proposals, drafted respectively by Lena Düpont (EPP, German) and Alessandro Ciriani (ECR, Italian), were enthusiastically received by the right-wing groups (EPP, ECR, PfE), they were much less successful on the left of the chamber (S&D, Greens/EFA, The Left). The first received 408 votes in favour, 184 against and 60 abstentions. The second received 396 votes in favour, 226 against and 30 abstentions.
The two texts aim, on the one hand, to send asylum seekers back to countries where they have no ties and, on the other, to speed up the processing of applications from nationals whose country is considered ‘safe’.
“We finally took this necessary step to make our asylum system more robust and more credible”, said a delighted Ms Düpont. In her view, the measures adopted will help Member States to determine the legitimacy of each request “at the earliest possible stage”.
For his part, Mr Ciriani welcomed “a signal of firmness” against illegal immigration, saying that “those who are not in need of protection will be identified and sent back more quickly thanks to the partner third countries”.
Mélissa Camara (Greens/EFA, French) denounced the “dehumanising” measures in a press release, saying that the text on ‘safe third countries’ would allow people to be transferred to countries “where respect for their fundamental rights will in no way be guaranteed”. (Original version in French by Justine Manaud)