Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-02-15-Speech-2-439-000"
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"en.20110215.26.2-439-000"2
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"Mr President, the European Court of Human Rights ruling of 21 January on the case of M.S.S. versus Greece and Belgium clearly showed that the EU urgently needs to establish a common European asylum system and that we need to support Member States in meeting their obligation to provide adequate international protection.
Let me finish by recalling that our Union is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for fundamental rights. Asylum is one of the human rights which the European Union is committed to respecting and promoting. The Commission is firmly committed to working towards a fair, efficient and protection-oriented common European asylum system. That is the best way to jointly uphold human rights as one of the important pillars of the area of freedom, justice and security.
The Commission has always said that in the application of the EU
and the Dublin regulation is an important element of the current EU
on asylum – Member States are never discharged of the obligation to ensure the protection of fundamental rights. The European Court of Justice recalled that principle in its judgment.
The judgment does not affect the underlying principles of the functioning of the Dublin system: to have a clear system to identify which Member State is responsible, to examine an asylum application, to guarantee effective access to the procedures of determining refugee status, and to prevent abuse of asylum procedures in the form of multiple applications.
However, the evaluation of the Dublin system made by the Commission has shown that there is room for improvement. Already in 2008, the Commission proposed a revised Dublin regulation to address the identified gaps. It aimed to increase both the standards of protection for the asylum applicants concerned, as well as the level of efficiency of the Dublin system for the benefit of the Member States.
I welcome the European Parliament’s strong support for the Commission proposals and I invite the Council and the European Parliament to work together for a balanced compromise leading to an improved Dublin 2 regulation.
Such a compromise must also include an emergency mechanism for suspension of transfers in situations of exceptional and particular pressure on the asylum system as a matter of last resort. It would provide a common, comprehensive solution to cases which today are treated in a discretionary manner in order to build more trust and a genuine support between the Dublin partners.
The Commission has been aware of the deficiencies of the Greek asylum system, which is confronted with exceptional pressure due to high numbers of mixed migration flows on its territory and the lack of a proper functioning national asylum system. We have already taken steps to review them.
The Commission initiated infringement proceedings against Greece in November 2009, setting out concerns about various provisions of EU law. Greece itself has committed to reforming its asylum system, based on an action plan submitted to the Commission in August last year setting out immediate and long-term measures. Since then, important legislative developments have taken place in Greece.
At the same time, the Commission is engaged in substantial efforts towards assisting Greece, together with the Member States, the UNHCR and EU agencies. This support combines significant financial and practical assistance for the reform of the national asylum system, border and return management, and more efficient use of the EU funds for migration management and also better cooperation with neighbouring countries, in particular, Turkey."@en1
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