Tampere set to clinch deal on asylum

Date: 23/09/1999

By Gareth Harding

EU LEADERS look set to agree the principles which will govern a future single European asylum system at their special summit on justice and home affairs issues next month.

Details of precisely which policies will be harmonised remain hazy, but justice and home affairs ministers agreed at a informal meeting last week to work towards aligning their policies in the field. Several member states have gone further, tabling concrete proposals as to what principles should underlie the EU's approach.

A paper drawn up by Paris and Berlin calls on member states to take into account the 'push and pull' causes of mass migrations when drawing up their joint strategy.

This approach is already being taken in the action plans currently being fine-tuned by the Council of Ministers' high-level group on asylum and immigration. But Berlin and Paris warn that agreements on how these plans are financed and put into practice will be "decisive" for the future of the EU's nascent migration policy.

They agree that mass influxes of asylum seekers require Union member states to take a more coordinated approach to the issue, but insist that two principles must remain sacrosanct in all situations: ensuring absolute respect for international asylum conventions and drawing a clear distinction between genuine asylum-seekers and illegal immigrants.

The French and German proposals were cautiously welcomed by other EU governments last week. But ministers were less enthusiastic about a Belgian plan to set up a European observatory to examine trends in migration and a proposal from Luxembourg to create a European refugee office responsible for dealing with applications for asylum.

The Amsterdam Treaty, which entered into force earlier this year, calls on member states to lay down minimum standards for the reception of asylum seekers and share the burden for receiving displaced persons. However, attempts to draw up a common policy in this area have floundered in the past because of disagreements over how to put the new treaty requirements into practice.

The Tampere summit on 15-16 October is expected to make significant progress on the issue, agreeing the principles which will guide that policy but leaving the details to be worked out afterwards.

EU leaders look set to agree the principles which will govern a future single European asylum system at their special summit on justice and home affairs issues, Tampere, October 1999.