MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 09th June, 2023) The home affairs ministers of the European Union agreed Thursday on revised immigration and asylum rules, Maria Malmer Stenergard, the minister for migration of Sweden, which holds the presidency of the Council of the EU, said.
"I am extremely pleased and also very proud to announce that ministers today have adopted the general approaches on the asylum and migration management regulation and the asylum procedure regulation. These two files constitute the two main pillars of the reform of the EU asylum system. The complex negotiations have been ongoing for many years, hard work during several presidencies and with valuable support from the Commission and especially Commissioner Ylva Johansson has contributed to the result we have achieved this evening. It is a historic step and a great success to finally be able to unite so many member states around a common position," the minister told a news conference following the Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting in Luxembourg.
The asylum procedure regulation (APR) established a "common procedure" across the union that member states need to follow when people seek asylum, streamlined procedural arrangements and set standards for the rights of the asylum seeker, the Council of the EU said in a statement on the website following the meeting.
The APR introduced mandatory border procedures to "quickly assess at the EU's external borders whether applications are unfounded or inadmissible," which would apply when an asylum seeker makes an application at an external border crossing point, the statement read. Member states also "need to establish an adequate capacity" to carry out border procedures and examine "an identified number of applications and to enforce return decisions." The adequate capacity at the EU level is 30,000, but each state will establish its own capacity based on "a formula which takes account of the number of irregular border crossings and refusals of entry over a three-year period."
"The asylum and migration management regulation (AMMR) should replace, once agreed, the current Dublin regulation. Dublin sets out rules determining which member state is responsible for the examination of an asylum application. The AMMR will streamline these rules and shorten time limits. For example, the current complex take back procedure aimed at transferring an applicant back to the member state responsible for his or her application will be replaced by a simple take back notification," the statement said.
A "new solidarity mechanism" is also being proposed to "balance the current system whereby a few member states are responsible for the vast majority of asylum applications." Responsibility offsets will be available as a "second-level solidarity measure" to compensate for "a possibly insufficient number of pledged relocations" in favor of countries "benefiting from solidarity," meaning that contributing member states "will take responsibility for the examination of an asylum claim by persons who would under normal circumstances be subject to a transfer to the member state responsible."
"There will be a minimum annual number for relocations from member states where most persons enter the EU to member states less exposed to such arrivals. This number is set at 30 000, while the minimum annual number for financial contributions will be fixed at ��20 000 per relocation. These figures can be increased where necessary and situations where no need for solidarity is foreseen in a given year will also be taken into account," the statement read.
The AMMR also contains measures to prevent "abuse by the asylum seeker and avoiding secondary movements," which set obligations for asylum seekers to apply in a state of first entry or legal stay, which in turn "discourages secondary movements by limiting the possibilities for the cessation or shift of responsibility between member states and thus reduces the possibilities for the applicant to chose the member state where they submit their claim."
The agreement reached paves the way for negotiations with the European Parliament for the final approval of the reform before the 2024 European Parliament election.
In 2020, the European Commission proposed a new agreement on migration and asylum rules based on a quota system. The plan stalled after criticism from Hungary, Poland and other countries, which objected to any requirements to accept migrants.
