| Author (Person) | Cronin, David |
|---|---|
| Series Title | European Voice |
| Series Details | Vol.11, No.12, 31.3.05 |
| Publication Date | 31/03/2005 |
| Content Type | News |
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By David Cronin Date: 31/03/05 MEPS are considering a legal challenge to an imminent EU law on asylum-seekers, believing that its provisions infringe civil liberties. The idea of referring the directive on asylum procedures to the European Court of Justice is being discussed informally in the European Parliament. Some MEPs examining the dossier are keen to back criticisms voiced earlier this week by the UN's High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). In a 59-page commentary, the Geneva-based agency said the proposal could lead to breaches of international law. Two of its principal concerns are a suggestion that asylum requests made by nationals of countries deemed 'safe' could be systematically turned down and a provision preventing appeals being heard before a deportation. In the UNHCR's view, both of these create a "real danger" that asylum-seekers sent home face torture or persecution, in contravention of the 1951 Geneva Conventions, the cornerstone of international law on refugee protection. The UNHCR has also complained at how the law would exempt EU governments from basic standards on handling asylum claims. To fast-track applications, for example, states would be allowed to opt out from the principle that only one authority should assess asylum bids. The UNHCR fears this could lead to authorities with insufficient expertise in human rights deciding on the merits of a claim. British Liberal Democrat MEP Sarah Ludford said she believed a consensus in favour of taking legal action would emerge. "This directive is the pits," she said. "It would mean the watering down of the level of protection and weakening the practical implementation of the Refugee Convention." German Socialist Wolfgang Kreissl-Dörfler, who is preparing the response to the law of the civil liberties committee, said he did not currently have "a strategy to go to court" but his report, to be finalised in May, would echo some of the criticisms made by the UNHCR. EU governments reached a political agreement on the directive in April last year but have stalled on adopting it until the Parliament delivers its verdict. An aide to Luxembourg's EU presidency said it was "up to Parliament to proceed". Another source said the most likely scenario is that the Council of Ministers will approve the directive in July, after Britain has taken over at its helm. A spokesman for Franco Frattini, the commissioner for justice, freedom and security, said the European Commission was "unhappy" that the text agreed by EU governments last year would confer lower standards of protection on asylum-seekers than it had originally proposed in 2000. But he said that the directive would bring legally enforceable minimum standards and this was "extremely important". Frattini, he said, did not agree that the directive "however disappointing its level of standards" would flout international law. The Parliament has previously challenged the Council over a law on reunifying asylum-seekers with the rest of their family and on the EU-US pact on airline passenger data. Richard Williams from the European Council on Refugees and Exile said his group was seeking guarantees that appeals could be made while an asylum-seeker was still on the EU's territory. "An appeal would be quite meaningless if someone is already returned to face torture or persecution," he said. The Commission is expected soon to publish a proposed law on expulsions. It will next week propose a scheme to allow EU money to be used for forcibly deporting asylum-seekers and immigrants, under the EU's spending programme for 2007-13. It will also publish proposals for sharing the financial burden for managing the EU's common borders across member states, funding to boost intelligence co-operation between national agencies, and financing campaigns against domestic violence, racism and anti-Semitism. Article reports that MEPs were considering a legal challenge to an imminent EU law on asylum-seekers, believing that its provisions would infringe civil liberties. The idea of referring the directive on asylum procedures to the European Court of Justice is being discussed informally in the European Parliament. EU Governments had reached a political agreement on the directive in April 2004 but stalled on adopting it until the European Parliament would deliver its verdict |
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| Source Link | http://www.european-voice.com/ |
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| Subject Categories | Justice and Home Affairs |
| Countries / Regions | Europe |
