Brussels, 19/02/2004 (Agence Europe) - After Thursday's Justice and Home Affairs Council, the Presidency and the European Commission showed a certain optimism on the prospects of reaching agreement on the two texts on asylum, which have been blocked for many months, before April. While concertation is underway between the German government and the opposition on national immigration law, German Minister Otto Schilly will not lift his veto on the proposal on refugee status, but he said he was "optimistic" on the chances of his country resolving its internal problems before the March JHA Council. Even when the German law goes through, everything will not necessarily be resolved, as Germany could call for changes to the European text. On the other proposal on standardisation of procedures to examine asylum procedures, Ministers debated the issue of appeals. Commissioner Vitorino stressed that there were still "technical" differences, but that "guidelines" laid down on Thursday should allow agreement on this point to be reached in March. The issue of safe third countries and countries of origin will thus remain to be resolved (yesterday's EUROPE, p.14).
The Justice and Home Affairs Council neared political agreement on Thursday on the framework decision to ensure the recognition and execution of confiscation orders between Member States for products of crime, pronounced as part of criminal proceedings. On Thursday, they agreed on the reasons a State may refuse to execute of confiscation order.
On the other points, Council took the expected positions (yesterday's EUROPE, p.14).