Strasbourg, 09/10/2001 (Agence Europe) - Adopting the report by Robert Evans (Labour, UK) on a common asylum policy on Wednesday by 298 to 235 with 27 abstentions, the European Parliament rejected by a narrow majority the minimalist approach promoted by the Christian Democrats (see EUROPE of 4 October, p.13) and the idea of turning inwards. The vote on the report by Hubert Pirker (ÖVP, Austria) on immigration (378 to 134 with 37 abstentions) reflects the European Parliament's desire to see more regulated immigration in the EU.
For the EP, a common asylum policy has to be based on high refugee protection standards, incorporate a common definition of who is a "refugee" and ensure full application of the Geneva Convention measures. It should include adequate procedural guarantees for protecting individual asylum seekers; appeal procedures should be harmonised in line with the principle of mutual recognition of judicial decisions. Parliament would like the procedure of granting asylum status to run according to a very strict, harmonised timetable, for there to be a single procedure for granting refugee status and for granting additional protection. The use of concepts such as "safe third countries", "safe countries of origin", "accelerated procedures" and "procedures concerning clearly unfounded applications" should be limited to what is justified and include legally binding guarantees. In terms of the idea of "safe countries" in particular, the EP feels there should be agreement on an indicative common list that takes account of the most recent developments and the respect for human rights. Moreover, if an asylum seeker is sent to a third country, it should be ensured that he/she will be accepted there and will have proper access to asylum in that country. Parliament feels that the Commission should manage the transfer of individuals to safe countries and report to the EP each year on this, regretting that the Commission has not yet put forward any proposals on a common policy for sending asylum seekers whose request for asylum has been rejected back to their country of origin. According to the EP, Member States should encourage and organise the voluntary return of asylum seekers to their country of origin by providing appropriate support (including material support) and the Commission should develop resettlement programmes. They also want the Commission to consider measures for combating the causes of migration, and prepare an in-depth study of the reasons why refugees are persecuted.
Adopting the Pirker report, the EP endorsed the Commission's Communication on the Community immigration policy, stressing that in the short-term, immigration can help relieve labour shortages and counter the falling birthrate, but cannot be a long-term solution to these problems. The EP therefore highlighted that historical, economic and social considerations differ to such an extent from one Member State to the next that it is impossible to draw up a uniform system for the whole of the EU in terms of requirements for workers from third countries. Member States should grant authorisations to enter their country and reside there in terms of the requirements of their own labour market, taking account of the objective of long-term integration of the immigrants. The EP also considers that drawing up an immigration policy requires that account is taken of the enlargement of the Union in the future and the impact this may have on the job market. The EP stressed that immigrants are expected to respect the Union's values, but conversely, Member States have to respect immigrants' rights and freedoms (mentioning long-term residents' right to vote in local elections). In general, Parliament calls for uniform European legislation on entry and residence criteria for migrant workers - a flexible and coherent idea in terms of visas, a graded residence permit system, mobility rights for third country nationals having a residence permit for a Member State and the introduction of a combined work and residence permit for immigrants, giving them freedom to circulate within the EU in the long-term, although restricting them in the short-term to the right to live and work in a single Member State.