Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-12-18-Speech-3-163"
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"en.20021218.7.3-163"2
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"Mr President, I will start with Mrs Hazan, who complains that there is disagreement concerning asylum policy and that therefore it will not really come to anything. I did not entirely understand this remark, because I was after all able to say that we have just reached agreement on the cornerstones of a common asylum policy. We have agreed on the definition of a refugee, on what is to be understood by subsidiary protection and on the directive on reception conditions, and by all accounts all this will be confirmed at a Council meeting tomorrow. In addition, we have also agreed to convert the Dublin convention into a Dublin directive. The agreement is based on the first receiving country being responsible for the first year and thereafter the country in which the person concerned has resided for five months, and if the person concerned has not resided in any country for five months then it is the country in which the application for asylum is submitted. That may sound very easy, but the opposing interests of the various countries are so enormous – depending on where they are situated in Europe – that it has been tremendously difficult to reach agreement. I believe it is extremely satisfactory than we now have agreement on these cornerstones of a common asylum policy.
Mr Vitorino and I met for the first time in the Committee on Citizens' Freedoms and Rights, Justice and Home Affairs. He was the chairman and I was a member. The first thing we talked about was these things, which we wanted to lead to a common policy, and we talked a lot about Eurodac. When will it come to something, we asked the Commissioner. Now we can answer: something will come of it on 15 January, that is, next month. So I think we have achieved a great deal. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to repeat that.
Mrs Sbarbati is right that something must be done for asylum-seeking minors in particular, and I can only state that in my home parliament I have introduced a Bill which ensures that an adult is present, that a lawyer is present when necessary and that cases involving minors are processed extra quickly. Similar efforts are in progress in other countries.
Turning to Mrs Ludford, I would say that if not much has come of a common immigration policy, that is partly to do with the number of work permits to be issued. Most governments maintain that this must be a national decision. This is why it has also been difficult to arrive at common rules on the right to free movement between countries. It is only natural that reaching agreement on this point is a difficult task, not least because some countries have very high levels of employment whilst others have very low levels of employment. We will probably make some progress, but as I have mentioned, it is not that easy.
I would go on to say to Mrs Swiebel that one specific aspect of the common asylum policy on which we have now agreed is that we ensure compliance with the conventions in every case. With regard to Mrs Swiebel’s concerns regarding forced returns, I believe that all the governments are doing everything to ensure that those whose asylum claims are rejected are returned voluntarily; likewise illegal immigrants, if the governments wish to return them. One cannot rule out forced repatriation, however; if we were to rule that out, we might as well pack up and forget all about an asylum policy, including a common asylum policy.
Regarding what Mrs Ludford said about women being returned to Afghanistan, it is naturally the case – as it should be – that nobody must be sent back to persecution, torture or degrading treatment. To reassure her I can state that the Afghans in most countries – this is true in my country at least – are young men from the Kabul region. Even they are not being sent back home at the moment; but it is obvious that, when this becomes possible in the spring, then it is only reasonable that, if their asylum claim has been rejected, we ensure that the person in question returns one way or another. I think it is great that Mr Vitorino has now achieved agreement in the Council not just on a general return policy, but also on a special return programme for Afghanistan. For this aspect of the matter must be included.
Finally, I would say to Mr Olle Schmidt that I thank him for his interest in Danish legislation. It already meets all the common minimum rules that we are talking about, and even goes beyond them. So thank you for your concern."@en1
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