Strasbourg, 19/12/2005 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday, the European Parliament adopted two reports by Martine Roure (French Socialist), one of which aimed at extending application of the Dublin II and Eurodac regulations to Denmark, and the other aimed at concluding a Protocol of Agreement between the European Community, Iceland and Norway on the criteria and mechanisms for determining the State responsible for examining a request for asylum filed in a Member State, in Iceland or in Norway.
The 2003 Dublin II regulation establishes the criteria and mechanisms for determining the Member State responsible for processing a request for asylum filed by a third country national. Its effectiveness is closely linked to the Eurodac system, set up by a regulation in 2000, and which is a database allowing the comparison of asylum seekers' fingerprints. Denmark does not currently take part in these two mechanisms, as, during the Amsterdam Treaty talks, it had refused to allow measures relating to asylum, immigration and legal cooperation in civil matters to be brought under the scope of Community competence (transfer from the third pillar to the Community pillar). A derogatory regime had therefore been reached in Copenhagen as defined in a protocol annexed to the treaty. In order to allow Denmark to take part in Community procedures, it was therefore deemed necessary to resort to an international agreement between the Community and Denmark, considered in such an accord as a third country. On the other hand, Denmark agreed to recognise the competence of the Court of Justice for the interpretation and application of the agreements and regulations concerned, and also agreed to be bound by any amendments to the rules in question and to make a financial contribution to the costs entailed by the Eurodac system. Denmark, however, will remain outside all the measures taken at European level concerning common asylum procedure. Further to the conclusion of an agreement between the EU and Norway and Iceland for their participation in Eurodac and in the Dublin regulation, and in order to allow Denmark to take part in the regulations, it was also necessary to resort to a protocol of agreement between the Community, Iceland and Norway.