Est. 2min 07-06-2007 (updated: 07-11-2012 ) frattini.jpg Euractiv is part of the Trust Project >>> Languages: Français | DeutschPrint Email Facebook X LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram With the publication of a Green Paper, Brussels has begun lengthy legislative efforts to exhort member states to share the asylum-seeker burden, after 182,000 people sought refuge in the EU in 2006 alone. Justice and Security Commissioner Franco Frattini announced the Green Paper, concerning the Common European Asylum System, on 6 June 2007. The Paper also highlights “serious inadequacies” in the way that EU countries identify vulnerable asylum-seekers. Countries lack the “resources, capacity and expertise” to respond to such needs. The Green Paper states that a harmonised protection status “invites reflection on the establishment of a mechanism for the mutual recognition of national asylum decisions and the possibility of transfer of protection responsibilities” between member states. Organisations working with refugees describe the current system, the Dublin Regulation, which shifts responsibility to states at the edge of Europe, pitting member states against each other, as “a lottery”. In an attempt to beat the system, some asylum-seekers lodge applications in more than one EU country: so-called “asylum shopping”. Eurodac, which matches fingerprints from across the EU, found that 12% of asylum seekers between 2003 and 2005 had already made a claim in another member state. The Green Paper acknowledges that the Dublin system may create “additional burdens” for frontline states. But immigration is politically unpopular across the EU, and there’s unlikely to be much enthusiasm for more migrants. Read more with Euractiv Europe gets space policy after Galileo setback The EU and members of the European Space Agency (ESA) have endorsed a space policy, committing themselves to increasing co-ordination both of their defence and civilian programmes, just days after the EU's satellite navigation project, Galileo, suffered a major setback. Subscribe now to our newsletter EU Elections Decoded Email Address * Politics Newsletters Positions The Green Paper states: "Member states' asylum systems are seen as forming a single regional protection area. As the external dimension of EU asylum policy grows in importance, greater expectations arise as to the role of the EU." Justice and Security Commissioner Franco Frattini is pushing for greater harmonisation of the rules for handling asylum applications. "This will promote EU solidarity and reduce the phenomenon of 'asylum shopping' where applicants move around the EU mainly because of the diversity in member states' applicable rules," he said. The European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) welcomed the publication of the Green Paper. ECRE EU Representative Richard Williams said: "It is good to see refugee protection and human rights back on the EU agenda, which for too long has been dominated by the fight against irregular migration...Europe needs a sensible discussion on how to live up to our international duties, to share responsibility for refugee protection fairly between member states, as well as with the rest of the world, and to set common standards consistent with fundamental rights for an asylum system that we can be proud of." UK Green MEP Jean Lambert said: "The main problem with the current asylum system is that it cannot deliver a full and fair decision process in all member states... Today's proposals by the Commission are a welcome attempt to address this. The Dublin Regulation has shortcomings in the form of a lack of comparable statistics, a lack of solidarity and of equal treatment. We need to develop and strengthen reception capacities in member states...People who seek protection should not be shipped around like unwanted goods but should be guaranteed a full and fair decision process wherever they arrive within the EU." BackgroundEU countries agreed to standardise asylum policy at a summit in Tampere, Finland in 1999, but the practice varies widely between member states, under the specifics of the present Dublin Regulation system. The total number of asylum applications has been falling for some years. In the EU-27 countries which now make up the EU, there were 405,455 applications in 2002. That's fallen by more than 50%, to 181,770 last year. The International Organisation for Migration says there are now around 192 million people living outside their place of birth, some 3% of the world's population. The number of migrants is growing by about 2.9% a year. Timeline 31 August 2007: Deadline imposed by the Commission for all interested parties to send their responses to the Green Paper in writing: Immigration and Asylum Unit – 'Green Paper on Asylum', DG Justice, Freedom and Security, European Commission, B-1049 Brussels, or email the Commission at JLS-asile-livre-vert@ec.europa.eu. 18 October 2007: Public hearing on Green Paper. Further ReadingEU official documents Commission:Green Paper on the future Common European Asylum System Commission:Proposal for a Council Directive aimed at extending to beneficiaries of international protection the possibility to obtain Long-Term Residence status Commission:Designing the future Common European Asylum System - increasing efficiency, protection, solidarity and facilitating integration [FR] [FR] [DE] EU Actors positions European Council on Refugees and Exiles:Agenda for Change [FR] [FR] [DE] Press articles BBC:EU 'must share burden of asylum' International Herald Tribune:EU needs higher standards to protect refugees Romandie.comBruxelles voudrait un régime d'asile harmonisé dans l'UE d'ici 2010 Die Welt:EU will "Asyl-Shopping" verhindern
