Brussels, 24/05/2000 (Agence Europe) - At the initiative of Commissioner Antonio Vitorino, the European Commission adopted, on Wednesday, a proposal of directive aimed at establishing minimum norms for granting harmonised temporary protection at EU level in the event of mass influx of refugees. The proposal does not concern Denmark because of the opt out by this country from Title IV of the Amsterdam Treaty. It was developed by the Commission in the light of the chaos noted within the Union during the Kosovo crisis. Its aim is to give the Union a legal basis on which it may show real solidarity between the Fifteen not only for temporary hosting of refugees but also for the sharing of the financial burden entailed by such displays of humanitarian solidarity.
The proposal submitted to the Council provides for the maximum duration of temporary protection to be two years, this kind of protection having to be decided by the Council by qualified majority. During this period, the beneficiaries should have similar rights in the host countries: valid permits to stay for the whole duration of protection, appropriate information, access to employment, right to housing or accommodation, social aid or means of subsistence, access to medical care, right to education for the minors, and the right to live as a family. The right to accede to normal asylum procedure will be guaranteed to those who so wish. Temporary protection will be based on two voluntary principles: the desires expressed by both the displaced persons and, as to their reception, the Member States directly affected (as an example, it is obvious that in a case of exodus from Algeria, France would want to be in the front line regarding reception, or Belgium in the case of the a serious problem in Congo, these destinations being those which, for their part, the victims would prefer). The solidarity mechanisms between Member States will rest on a financial instrument, the "European Fund for Refugees" whose creation the European Commission proposed in December 1999, and which should have a budget of 216 million euro for the period 2000-2004.