1. Policy Background
2. Useful Documents
3. Links

1. Policy Background

For the past 30 years, the Member States of the European Union have followed 'zero' immigration policies. In recent years though, relatively significant numbers of third country nationals have entered the European Union and these migratory pressures are continuing with an accompanying increase in illegal migration, smuggling and trafficking. The number of asylum-seekers in the EU has continued to rise since 1997.

The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, proclaimed in December 2000,contains two articles on the right of asylum: first, Article 18, which is guaranteed in compliance with the Geneva Convention of 1951 and the 1967 Protocol on the status of refugees and in accordance with the Treaty establishing the European Community; and secondly, Article 19 on protection in the event of removal, expulsion or extradition.

The Community's competence in the field of asylum and immigration dates from the Treaty of Amsterdam. Building on this and recognising such migratory pressures, the Tampere European Council called for a common European policy on asylum and migration in October 1999. The object was to devise a common European asylum system which could, in time, lead to a common asylum procedure and a uniform status, valid throughout the Union, for those granted asylum.

In regard to asylum and immigration the European Commission has described its goals in simple terms as:

• for refugees and asylum seekers to be guaranteed a humane and just response;
• to seek closer co-operation with countries of origin in order to be able to address the issue of migration flows jointly with them;
• to afford those illegal immigrants who are victims of organised crime (such as women who are being trafficked) greater protection;
• to ensure that criminals find no safe haven in the European Union.

To achieve these goals the Commission has taken a number of actions since the Treaty of Amsterdam, including setting up a Directorate-General for Justice and Home Affairs (under Commissioner Vitorino) and promoting a full discussion of these issues together with the then Finnish Presidency at the Tampere Summit in October 1999.

The Treaty of Amsterdam required the EU to develop a common asylum and immigration policy within five years, but without saying how this should be done. Tampere was the beginning of this action, the European Council asking the Commission to produce a workplan based on three areas of action:

• a common asylum/immigration system;
• a European area of justice; and
• the fight against international organised crime.

The approach was designed to ensure that member states did not give in to the temptation, under pressure from public opinion, to deal only with certain aspects of asylum and immigration problems, to the detriment of achieving policy coherence across the whole field.

From this process have come a number of initiatives that have already been put in place by the Commission. These include:

• the European Refugee Fund (instrument of financial burden-sharing between Member States in matters of asylum);
• temporary protection status for mass displacement of refugees;
• family reunification regulations in respect of legal immigrants;
• the Eurodac regulation (database containing finger prints of asylum seekers);
• revision of the Dublin Convention (asylum and illegal immigrants);
• Community readmission agreements;
• high level working group on asylum and immigration (co-operation with countries of origin);

Despite this considerable progress the EU still lacks a complete and common asylum system, including procedures and forms of protection. The Commission acknowledges that this is an ambitious goal but takes the view that only such a universal framework of policies can address the problems of 'asylum shopping' that come about as a result of the current diverse and fragmented national systems.

The Commission's latest proposals, adopted on 12 September 2001, define the concepts of 'refugee', subsidiary forms of protection and the types of status to which they give rise. They complete a series of policy modules that will together form the first stage of the common European asylum system. Further proposals for directives on asylum procedures, reception conditions for asylum-seekers and a Community instrument to improve the system of determining the member state responsible for examining asylum requests, are all being examined by the Council.

At the Laeken in December 2001, member states acknowledged that progress had been slow and asked the Commission to submit a series of new proposals in the Spring on 2002 including new common definitions of what constitutes a refugee.

One reason for relatively slow progress is that the political arena in the EU member states is frequently characterised by excessively polarised and ill-informed debates on migration and asylum. Such debates revolve around whether refugees are 'genuine' and speakers often call for a tougher line towards those whose claims for asylum may be unfounded, especially where asylum seekers try to exploit the complicated and contradictory practices of the different EU member states to evade normal immigration controls.

It is an unfortunate fact that racism and discrimination are present in the populations of all EU member states to various degrees. In the face of this people who need international protection may be marginalised. Moreover, as racism is divisive it undermines both social cohesion and economic stability. The EU is determined to fight this, putting in place strategies to raise awareness and develop more positive perceptions towards people in need of international protection.

Partly to assist in combating the effects of discrimination the EU, in common with its member states, gives aid to refugees i:e those people who are driven out of their country or forced to leave it to escape war, famine, persecution or other conditions and to people who are displaced within their own country for such reasons. Through the years the EU has steadily increased this assistance which now represents a substantial part of the total of EU humanitarian aid. The Union co-operates closely with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The United Nations, however, is concerned that the member states of the EU continue to adopt what it views as excessively restrictive asylum and immigration policies.

The Council has also adopted measures to allow temporary protection in cases where events cause a mass influx of displaced people. This is an exceptional mechanism, providing immediate protection for the people concerned. It is to be triggered by the Council of Ministers (voting by
qualified majority) on the basis of a Commission proposal. It is valid for one year, with the possibility of an automatic extension for two further six-month periods.

2. Useful Documents

A. United Nations High Commissioner For Refugees: Ten Refugee Protection Concerns In The Aftermath Of September 11th 2001

The horrifying Sept. 11 terror attacks in the United States have changed the world, profoundly affecting millions of people around the globe. The repercussions will be felt for years. As the agency mandated to protect and assist millions of the world's most vulnerable people, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees is particularly concerned about the impact of Sept. 11 on those most in need of international protection and assistance. UNHCR is concerned, for example, about the increasing public perception of refugees and asylum seekers as "criminals" and over attempts to create unwarranted links between refugees and terrorism. Even before the tragic events of Sept. 11, asylum seekers faced increasingly difficult obstacles in a number of countries, including gaining access to asylum procedures or overcoming presumptions about the validity of their claims because of their ethnicity or mode of arrival. More…

B. Presidency Conclusions: European Council, Laeken, 14 and 15 December 2001 (Extract)

The European Council reaffirms its commitment to the policy guidelines and objectives
defined at Tampere and notes that while some progress has been made, there is a need for new impetus and guidelines to make good delays in some areas. Holding Justice and Home Affairs sessions at shorter intervals will help speed work up. It is also important that decisions taken by the Union be transposed speedily into national legal systems and that conventions concluded since the Maastricht Treaty came into force be ratified as soon as possible. More…

C. Dublin Convention: State Responsible For Examining Applications For Asylum Lodged In One Of The Member States Of The European Communities

To determine the Member State responsible for examining an application for asylum, a matter that is not settled by the Geneva Convention on the status of refugees. The application of this Convention will ensure that every asylum-seeker's application will be examined by a Member State, unless a "safe" non-Member country can be considered as responsible. This will avoid situations of refugees being shuttled from one Member States to another, with none accepting responsibility, as well as multiple serial or simultaneous applications. More…

D. "Eurodac" System For The Comparison Of Fingerprints Of Asylum Applicants And Illegal Immigrants And Facilitate The Application Of The Dublin Convention

The Dublin Convention of 15 June 1990, to which all Member States are party, provides a mechanism for determining the State responsible for examining applications for asylum lodged in one of the Member States of the European Union. In view of the difficulties the Member States anticipated in identifying aliens who had already lodged an asylum application in another Member State, in 1991 Ministers responsible for immigration agreed to establish a Community-wide system for the comparison of the fingerprints of asylum applicants. More…

E. António Vitorino, European Commissioner for Justice and Home Affairs Closing speech at the European Conference on Migration European Parliament Brussels, 17 October 2001

I am positively reassured because it is now clear to me that I am right to concentrate a great deal of my time and energy in trying to forge a common European immigration policy. It attests to its importance that in such a serious moment for our common security, so many important and distinguished actors have found time to attend this event. I am also surprised and now allow me to be provocative - because I find so much convergence of views on the way to go ahead. Why should I be surprised? Because the way matters seem to evolve through the EU institutions would not lead me to think so easily that there is such a high degree of convergence. Let us therefore translate our political will into practice, speed up our work and produce much more deliverables than we manage to at the present pace. More…

3. Links

European Council on Refugees and Exiles: http://www.ecre.org
Human RightsWatch http://www.hrw.org
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees http://www.unhcr.ch
EU Networks on Reception, Integration, and Voluntary Repatriation of Refugees http://www.refugeenet.org
Institute of Migration: http://www.iom.int
EuropaWorld Refugee pages
EU Commission DG Justice and Home Affairs http://europa.eu.int/comm/dgs/justice_home/index