Brussels, 06/06/2007 (Agence Europe) - By invitation of the European Council of December 2006, which called for the “completion by the end of 2010” of the European asylum regime, the Commission on Wednesday presented a broad raft of measures in the field of asylum. The measures include: a Green Paper opening up the debate on the future of the asylum regime and containing several suggestions for harmonisation. It also includes a proposed directive extending the option to obtain the status of long-term resident to those benefiting from international protection, and an assessment report of the Dublin system. “The common European asylum system must, on the one hand, be able to offer better protection to those who genuinely need it and, on the other, prevent 'asylum shopping' (multiple applications), whilst showing solidarity and offering the same level of protection throughout the Union”, the Commissioner with responsibility for Justice and Home Affairs, Franco Frattini, told a press conference on Wednesday. At the time of going to press, there are some 1.5 million refugees in the EU. In 2006, nearly 182,000 people requested asylum in the Union.
The Green Paper aims principally to “set in place a higher common level of protection and more uniform protection throughout the EU and guarantee greater solidarity between the Member States”. The common European asylum regime is made up of two phases: the first, which includes four principal legislative instruments- the directive on reception conditions, the directive on asylum granting procedures, the directive on qualifications and the Dublin II regulation- is complete. The second phase, which is to be adopted by the end of 2010, is the subject of the Green Paper. This provides for greater alignment of asylum procedures, legal standards and national reception conditions, which will help to prevent asylum seekers from going from one Member State to the next in order to benefit from national rules which are felt to be more advantageous. From September 2003 to December 2005, EURODAC revealed that some 12% of asylum requests were made by people who had already made a similar application in another Member State. The Green Paper is subdivided into four sectors in which the Commission plans to act. 1/Reinforcing legislative instruments: - As relates to the processing of asylum requests, the idea is to step up legal protection measures for the applicant during registration and filtering procedures on the border. The creation of a “single procedure” for the assessment of asylum applications is also included, as is the possibility of “common processing” of asylum requests; - The differences between the reception conditions for asylum seekers between the different Member States raises the issue of restricting the assessment powers of the Member States and of the definition of a “single framework”, such as, for example, access to the employment market for asylum seekers, material reception conditions in holding centres; - Greater harmonisation of criteria for the granting of protection is also envisaged, as is the possibility of bringing in a single “uniform status” for all people under international protection. In this area, the Commission is also interested in the idea of bringing in a mutual recognition mechanism for national asylum decisions and on the possibility of transferring protection responsibilities to another country; - The Commission then hopes to bring in provisions obliging the Member States to provide help in particular for the most vulnerable asylum seekers, such as women, children and the victims of torture; - It has also been suggested that specific integration measures and mechanisms could be brought in (positive integration?), such as the recognition of qualifications and employment rights for those under international protection. 2/ Increased cooperation: - The convergence of the various practices used by the administrations of the Member States presupposes greater cooperation, in particular by developing “common guidelines” on the interpretation and application of the Community acquis in the field of asylum; - Once again, the Commission is planning to develop a list of safe countries, which means countries to which immigrants whose asylum application has been rejected can be sent back in a swift legal procedure. Up to now, the idea of creating this list has been rejected by several Member States; - The creation of a European support bureau could provide support or coordinate the joint activities of the States, whilst having the possibility of providing training for the staff in question. This office could set up and provide a framework for expert teams in the field of asylum, to be sent out to the Member States experiencing particular pressures. 3/Dividing up the burden of work between the States: - The Commission proposes to set up “corrective” mechanisms to share the burden, to add to the Dublin regime, by such means as Community relocation. This lightning of the load is also possible with the directive presented within this package (see below); - The European Refugee Fund (ERF), which has a budget of 628 million EUR for the period 2008-2013, should be used as a principal instrument of support for the efforts made by the Member States. 4/The external dimension of asylum: Given that 6.5 million of the 8.7 million refugees in the world live in the developing countries, the Commission hopes to lighten the load on the Member States by helping third countries to face up to problems related to asylum and refugees, by such means as systematically including asylum issues in its development cooperation strategies, by developing a common approach to refugee relocation on the territory of the EU, by giving operational and financial assistance to the Member States undergoing mixed flows (illegal migrants and those requiring protection). Responses to this consultation must be returned no later than 31 August 2007. A public hearing will be held on 18 October to discuss the results of the consultation. The Commission will publish an action plan in the first quarter of 2008, in order to present concrete legislative proposals. “Two years will be enough to adopt these measures”, said Commissioner Frattini.
The Commission has also adopted a proposed directive aiming to reinforce the rights of political refugees, by allowing them to obtain the status of a long-term resident. “We must promote the integration of third-country nationals benefiting from protection within the Union and bring their legal status closer to that of nationals of the Member States”, said Mr Frattini. This long-term residential status will allow them to enjoy a great many economic and social benefits on the same level as the European citizens. It will reinforce their protection from expulsion. The refugee will also be able to move to another country of the EU, in order to study or work there. It is worth noting that in this field, which comes under the legal immigration chapter, the States often struggle to reach agreement (unanimity).
Assessment of the Dublin system: Although the Dublin objectives have, for the most part, been achieved, the Commission notes that a number of changes are needed to improve its application, in full respect of other European and international obligations, and also in order to step up their effectiveness. Between September 2003 and December 2005, some 17,000 nationals of third countries were the subject of a transfer from one Member State to another in order for their asylum request to be examined. EUROPE will return to this. (bc)