Strasbourg, 10/04/2002 (Agence Europe) - Adopting the report by Portuguese Socialist Luis Marinho on the draft regulation determining which Member State is responsible for assessing an asylum request from somebody from outside the EU by 392 to 10 with 13 abstentions, the European Parliament supported the new European Commission proposal to fill the gaps of the Dublin Convention and replacing it with EU legislation. The EP stressed that a Member State is responsible if it has allowed the asylum seeker to stay in its country for more than two months or if the asylum seeker has stayed in the country for more than six months. The EP approved the broader definition of "member of a family" to include the partner of the asylum seeker, whether married or in a sustained relationship regardless of gender; single (as in not in a relationship) child (all definitions of child) or ward under 18; where appropriate, other people with whom there is a family link and who live in the same household in the country of origin, of one of the people in question is dependent on the other. The EP echoed the Commission in asserting that the asylum seeker had to be informed in writing in a language he or she reads and understands of the date on which the assessment of their claim began.
During the debate Commissioner Antonio Vitorino stressed that no system for determining responsibility in the field of asylum could claim to be perfect and the Commission had tried to strike a balance between the legitimate interest of Member States to combat asylum-shopping and the legitimate interest of asylum seekers to not be separated from their families for any length of time. Green British MEP Jean Lambert was unhappy that the proposal was based on the presumption that a Member State is responsible for a lack of control by other Member States at their borders since countries bordering on the sea or the countries where the asylum seekers come from will be the main point of entry into the EU and she argued that every person has the right to choose their host country. British Liberal MEP Sarah Ludford said "This is an important signal of the Parliament's determination to ensure that humanitarian protection in the EU is not watered down" and the vote had confirmed the position that the definition of a refugee should not be limited to someone fleeing "state" persecution, but could cover "non-state" persecution.