Gradin seeks unified immigration rules

Date: 24/07/1997

By Simon Coss

JUSTICE and Home Affairs Commissioner Anita Gradin hopes to begin the process of plugging what she sees as a hole in EU immigration rules when she unveils plans for an 'admissions convention' next week.

Her proposals, which are due to be adopted by the full European Commission next Wednesday (30 July) at its last meeting before the summer break, will aim to set out some basic common criteria which Union governments should follow when examining routine applications for residency from third country nationals.

At present, the only rules the EU has adopted concerning immigration tend to deal with the what could be termed the more 'negative' issues, such as how to process requests from people seeking political asylum or ways to deter illegal aliens.

The handling of 'normal' applications from non-EU citizens who wish to come and live within the Union is currently governed solely by national rules.

“We need some sort of overview of the situation regarding immigration into the EU. At present, the only common ground is that people have to apply for residence from outside the Union,” explained one Gradin aide.

The Swedish Commissioner has for some time been urging member states to try to adopt a more coherent approach to immigration policy.

She feels that, as well as creating a Union-level perspective on the issue, work also needs to be done to clarify what has been agreed to date.

“Where the existing texts are unclear or ambiguous, I intend to propose amendments,” she told the European Parliament late last year.

But it is not at all clear how well Gradin's proposals will go down with member states, given the concern felt in many EU capitals about any encroachment on national sovereignty in this highly sensitive area.

National governments are notoriously protective of their immigration rules and as any proposal for legislation on this issue can only come into force with the unanimous agreement of all 15 EU member states, it would only take one waverer to torpedo the plan.

Initial signs suggest that Gradin will face an uphill struggle in her efforts to convince governments that any EU-wide rules are needed at all.

“I see no particular need for a new convention,” said one national official this week.

Those who are pessimistic about the chances of persuading member states to support Gradin's initiative point out that the few agreements that have so far been struck between governments on asylum and immigration policy were not arrived at easily. Most of those - such as the so-called Dublin Convention which deals with the treatment of asylum-seekers - fall outside the main body of EU law.