EU
asylum reform ideas hit wall of opposition
By ESZTER ZALAN
BRUSSELS, 6. APR,
20:48
Opposition to
mandatory EU mechanisms for sharing asylum seekers between member
states are throwing doubt on the European Comission’s proposed
reforms to the bloc’s asylum laws.
The commission on
Wednesday (6 Aprril) floated two main options on how to update the
so-called Dublin asylum regime.
Timmermans will have
a fight on his hands in central Europe (Photo: European commission)
Both ideas in its
“communication” include permanent methods on how to share
applicants, which have already created controversy in central Europe.
Slovakia and Hungary
and Slovakia have filed lawsuits at the EU Court of Justice against a
temporary migrant quota system, after being outvoted last September
on the matter.
The Czech Republic,
Poland, and Romania have also voiced opposition.
“Permanent quotas
once again? How long will the EU commission keep riding this dead
horse instead of working on things that really help?” Tomas Prouza,
Czech state secretary for European affairs tweeted on Wednesday.
The Dublin system
puts the burden of processing claims and providing welfare or
handling returns on those countries where applicants first enter the
bloc.
It has put severe
pressure on Greece and Italy.
“The present
system is not working,” EU commission vice president Frans
Timmermans said on Wednesday, adding that it is “not fair or not
sustainable given the number of people” coming to Europe.
One new option put
forward by the commission is to keep the current system, but to
introduce a “corrective fairness mechanism” for redistribution in
emergency situations.
This would result in
relocation of asylum seekers from a frontline country if it was at
risk of being overwhelmed.
Another, more
“radical” option, as one EU official called it, is to replace the
Dublin first-country-of-entry principle with a “distribution key”
one.
This would result in
the EU sharing asylum claims on the basis of member states’ wealth,
population and other socioeconomic factors no matter where the
claimant first appeared.
“It automatically
creates a redistribution among member states,” Timmermans pointed
out.
According to a
commission official, participating in the scheme would be mandatory
for member states.
“It would have to
be a mandatory system to make it work, otherwise it is not possible
to have an orderly system of distribution of asylum seekers,” said
the official.
But countries
reluctant to take in refugees are not impressed.
“Both options
cross the red line for us,” said a diplomat from a central European
country, adding that the options still need to be thoroughly
analysed.
The Czech interior
minister, Milan Chovanec, also tweeted: “The proposed reform of
European migration policy is being built to introduce mandatory
quotas. To those we have repeatedly said No. Quotas are simply not
working.”
Hungary's government
had earlier called for a referendum against refugee quotas and put up
billboards opposing a quota-based scheme.
Diplomats from
eastern and central European countries have been arguing that quotas
are a pull-factor for asylum seekers and economic migrants.
They also say their
countries are willing to participate in other forms of solidarity,
like sending staff or equipment to help process asylum claims in
frontline states or to protect the bloc’s external borders from
irregular crossings.
The options are
expected to be discussed among member states’ interior ministers on
21 April in Luxembourg.
The commission is to
come forward with a formal legal proposal “before the summer.”
It will also have to
win the approval of the European Parliament.
In the EU Council,
where member states meet, the final decision will be taken by a
qualified majority vote, which means that reluctant countries could
be once again railroaded into compliance.
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