Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-05-06-Speech-3-327"
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"en.20090506.38.3-327"2
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"Mr President, this new phase of our work, intended to establish a common European asylum system, will require a substantial effort on the part of both Parliament and the Council.
The Council also hopes that an early agreement could be possible concerning the Eurodac Regulation, since only some technical improvements are being proposed by the Commission, and these should contribute to a better functioning of the system.
The discussions which have taken place until now in the framework of the Council concerning the other two proposals – the amendments to the Reception Conditions Directive and the so-called Dublin Regulation – indicate that the issues raised by those proposals are undoubtedly more complex and difficult.
The Commission proposals in relation to the Reception Conditions Directive, as the honourable Members know, are intended to amend the existing directive with a view to addressing the deficiencies identified by the Commission during recent years. The Commission considers that the margin of discretion left to Member States by the Directive in force is too great, and that this has undermined the objective of ensuring adequate reception conditions for asylum seekers in all Member States. That is why the Commission has proposed a number of amendments concerning such matters as access to employment by asylum applicants, enhanced material reception conditions, better addressing of the needs of vulnerable persons and recourse to detention.
The Dublin Regulation, that is, the regulation establishing the criteria and mechanisms for determining the Member State responsible for examining an asylum application, is intended to prevent abuse of asylum procedures in the form of multiple applications submitted by the same person in several Member States. The Commission is now proposing a number of amendments aimed at increasing the efficiency of the current system and also in order to ensure better protection standards for asylum applicants. The proposal also contains a mechanism for suspending transfers in cases when a Member State is experiencing particular pressure on its asylum system which does not allow it to offer asylum seekers adequate standards of protection and reception conditions.
The detailed examination of the Commission’s proposals on reception and Dublin is ongoing in the Council. The Council has yet to define its position on a number of the issues dealt with in the two proposals, and a discussion is still ongoing on certain key issues. These include the question of access to employment and detention in the context of the Reception Conditions Directive, and how best to respond to the needs of Member States facing particular pressure in the context of the Dublin Regulation. It is already clear to the Presidency that more work will be necessary at the level of the Council in order to achieve the necessary level of agreement among Member States on these proposals, which would enable it to engage in discussions with Parliament with a view to an agreement between the two institutions. That, of course, remains our aim, and Parliament can be assured that the Council will fully take into account the views of Parliament as represented by amendments proposed in the relevant draft reports.
Both the Council and Parliament are committed to the establishment of a common European asylum system which offers a high level of protection and functions effectively. We are, therefore, faced with an important challenge in finding the right solutions which will enable us to achieve that objective. I am confident that the will is there on the part of both the Council and Parliament to make that possible and, against this background, the Council will now undertake a detailed examination of Parliament’s proposals on all four of these instruments.
The Council fully endorses the need to achieve further harmonisation in the field of asylum. The European Council, when adopting the European pact on immigration and asylum, welcomed the progress made in the area of asylum to date but, equally, recognised that important disparities remained between Member States concerning the grant of protection and the form that protection takes.
The European Council, while reiterating that the grant of protection and refugee status is the responsibility of each Member State, also indicated that the time has come to take new initiatives to complete the establishment of a common European asylum system provided for in the Hague programme, and thus to offer a higher degree of protection, as proposed by the Commission in its policy plan on asylum.
The Council therefore welcomes the four important legislative proposals which the Commission tabled between December and February 2009 for this purpose and which represent the focal point of our debate today.
These proposals deal with reception conditions for applicants for international protection, the so-called Dublin regulation, and Eurodac, which were all presented in December last year, as well as the proposal for establishing a European Asylum Support Office, presented in February this year.
These proposals have already been subject to intensive discussions within the Council bodies within the short period since they were presented. The nature of the proposals and the complexity of the issues they deal with mean that the examination is not yet complete at all levels of the Council.
I cannot, therefore, indicate a firm position on the part of the Council in relation to the amendments which Parliament is proposing in the draft reports. All I can say is that the Council will look closely at all elements of Parliament’s report with a view to making progress on these important measures in the shortest possible time frame.
I would, in particular, hope that we can make early progress on two proposals whose scope is more limited. These are the proposals directed to the establishment of the European Asylum Support Office and the amendment of the Eurodac Regulation. These are also, consequently, the proposals on which discussion within the Council bodies is most advanced and on which it is already possible to say that there is a significant degree of convergence between the views of the Council and Parliament.
The establishment of the European Asylum Support Office will facilitate the exchange of information, analysis and experience among Member States and will help to further develop practical cooperation between the administrations in charge of examining asylum applications. It will also use the shared knowledge of countries of origin to help to bring national practices, procedures and, consequently, decisions into line with one another. Both the Council and Parliament favour the establishment of such an office. The Presidency believes that the proposal can, and should, be the subject of an early agreement between Parliament and the Council on a basis acceptable to both institutions. As the honourable Members know, this proposal is accompanied by a proposal for modifying the European Refugee Fund. Since its purpose is to ensure its financing of the Support Office, both instruments should be adopted at the same time."@en1
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