Luxembourg, 26/04/2002 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday, in addition to the political agreement on minimum standards of welcome for asylum seekers and the conclusions on illegal immigration by sea (yesterday's EUROPE, pp. 7 and 8), the EU15 Interior Ministers approved a whole series of texts. As far as the hosting of asylum seekers and European immigration policy is concerned, European Commissioner Antonio Vitorino said he was pleased the directive had been adopted "after two years of discussion". Although the text is "less ambitious" than what the Commission was proposing, it is "encouraging" as this is the first European legal instrument for asylum that has yet been adopted, he said. Circles around him welcomed the fact that he had spoken during the Council debates on burden-sharing, without giving rise to the usual expression of protest. In answer to questions on burden-sharing, Spanish Minister Mariano Rajoy simply replied that the subject "had not been tackled". Mr Vitorino announced that, on 7 May, he would make a proposal on the management of the EU's future external borders. The proposal would set out the idea of cost sharing and also cover a series of common rules for border control, a new cooperation mechanism and a number of guidelines for the future European border police. The Italian delegation discussed preparations for the ministerial conference on 30 May in Rome, when it will present the results of its feasibility study on the creation of a common border police force. The Fifteen also evoked negotiation of readmission agreements with third countries and called on the Commission to present negotiating briefs for China, Turkey, Albania and Algeria. The Council also reached results pertaining to:
- The Argo programme for administrative cooperation in the field of external borders, visas, asylum and immigration. Mr Vitorino stressed that it was "extremely important" that the Council had approved this financial instrument. From 2002 to end 2006, EUR 25 million should be devoted to promoting cooperation between the services responsible for the implementation of Community rules in this field, as well as good application of such rules. In 2002, the Argo budget should be EUR 3 million, instead of the 5 million per year foreseen, because of the rather late adoption of the text. The political agreement reached on Thursday must be formally confirmed at a forthcoming Council.
- A single model for visa application forms, and a uniform model for work permits for nationals of third countries. The Council adopted the above models and also approved the updating of more technical manuals on borders, the adoption of common instructions for consulates, and four recommendations on the fight against drugs (EUROPE of 18 April, p.10).
- Europol: As pointed out earlier, the Council reached a political agreement on Europol's participation in joint teams of inquiry and on the possibility for Europol to call on Member States to carry out such inquiries. How much time is needed for this measure to become effective?, it was asked. Mariano Rajoy said he did not know. Once the European Parliament has given its opinion in July on this Belgo-Spanish proposal, the Council will probably decide to include the amendment in a protocol. The protocol should then be ratified by the parliaments of the fifteen Member States, which could take several years. All depends on whether the Member States finally manage to bring the matter of simplifying the amendment process of the Europol Convention out of deadlock - a matter not even discussed by ministers (see EUROPE of 20 April, p.6).
- Safety of international football matches: The Council decided that each country should designate a point of contact responsible for cooperation and information exchange (EUROPE of 20 April, p.7).
- Fight against xenophobia: Does the declaration adopted on Thursday and proposed about ten days ago by France mean there is no place in Europe for xenophobic parties such as Jean-Marie Le Pen's party? Mariano Rajoy replied: "of course, the message we hope to give is a categorical refusal of this kind of attitude".
- Terrorism: The Council approved a recommendation encouraging Member States to form, where necessary, multinational teams of inquiry against terrorism (information exchange, research, localisation …). The German delegation welcomed the "warm welcome" given to its proposal to create a European fund to compensate victims of terrorism in third countries.
In addition, the Presidency gave ministers a short briefing on the "Rio" operation conducted in sixteen European airports early in the month to assess the level of illegal immigration via airports (EUROPE of 12 April, p.10). It also gave an account of its meeting on 12 April with the United States on combating illegal immigration, when they discussed the identification of a list of data exchange, information on forged visas or passports, and mutual cooperation in different forms. The European delegation, however, refused to discuss the use of laws on immigration to send fugitives to the United States without using the law on extradition.