Brussels, 05/12/2007 (Agence Europe) - No fewer than 20 member states have failed to properly implement the 2005 legislation on minimum standards for granting and withdrawing refugee status, said European Immigration Commissioner Franco Frattini on Monday 3 December. Only six countries -Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Luxemburg, Romania and the United Kingdom - have fully transposed the directive which aims to reduce disparities between the various national procedures for considering requests for asylum. A few member states - Belgium, Estonia, France and Lithuania - have partially transposed the directive. Only Denmark is not bound by the legislation, as a result of its opt-out from European asylum policy. The delay by over two thirds of member states in implementing the directive “sends a worrying message” to all asylum seekers, especially those who have to gain refugee status, Frattini said. The procedure directive sets out asylum seekers' main rights and duties: - applicants are allowed to remain in the member state for the sole purpose of the procedure; - each application must be examined and decisions taken individually, objectively and impartially and the reasons in fact and in law for any rejection must be given; - the applicant should be interviewed personally (allowing for exceptions), and should have the right to legal aid and effective appeal. 1 December 2007 was the deadline for member states' adopting the necessary arrangements for the implementation of the directive. The 2005 directive is a vital precondition for moving to a genuine European common asylum system by 2010. At the end of November, the Commission complained about the too random transposition of the directive on harmonising entry conditions for asylum seekers (see EUROPE 9553). (B.C.)