Brussels, 20/07/2001 (Agence Europe) - On Friday, the Council adopted the directive relating to standards for the granting of temporary protection in case of a massive influx of displaced persons. The aim of the directive, on which the Justice/Home Affairs Council reached a political agreement on 28 May (see EUROPE of 30 May, p.7) is to grant immediate and temporary protection to persons in the obligation of leaving their country en mass in case of emergency, as was the case, for example, during the war in Bosnia and Kosovo.
The triggering of the immediate protection mechanism shall be decided by the Council of Ministers (through a qualified majority) on the basis of a Commission proposal. There is a one year duration, with the possibility of automatic extension of twice six months. Should the crisis situation persist, the Council may decide on a further extension for a maximum of one year, and, if the situation of a country improves, it may decide to put an end to it. This mechanism also enables displaced persons to gain access to the financial resources of the European Fund for Refugees. Welcoming the adoption of this directive in a declaration, Commissioner Antonio Vitorino stressed that it was "the first of a series of initiatives that have been elaborated out of humanitarian concern".
You may remember, the agreement was reached on the basis of a Commission proposal dating back to 24 May 2000 (see EUROPE of 25 May 2000, p.13), which was the subject of intensive negotiations in the Council. The European Parliament approved the draft directive at its plenary session of March 2001 (see EUROPE of 17 March 2001, p.14). May we also recall that in the field of asylum, the EU has already created Eurodac (system for collecting the fingerprints of asylum-seekers and nationals from certain third countries) and the European Fund for Refugees (tool of financial solidarity between Member States regarding asylum policy).
The Commission has also presented draft directives on asylum procedures and the conditions for receiving asylum-seekers (see EUROPE of 4 April 2000, p.6) which is under negotiation in the Council and adopted a communication on the long-term goal of the common European asylum system (see EUROPE of 23 November 2000, p.13). It will soon present proposals aimed at defining the instrument called on to succeed the Dublin Convention, as well as rules on the recognition and contents of the status of refugee, which will be complemented by subsidiary forms of protection. All these instruments will make up the first phase of the harmonisation process aimed at introducing a common European asylum system, as agreed in Tampere.